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23/04/2007: New legislation for contaminants in food
As of March 2007 new legislation came into effect concerning contaminants in food covering the whole of the UK. A food contaminant is a substance unintentionally added but which is present as a result of production, manufacturing, processing, preparation, treatment, packing, packaging, transport or holding (or as a result of environmental contamination).
The regulations set maximum limits for certain contaminants in foodstuffs and put into effect various directives dealing with sampling and analysis procedures. The following categories of contaminant are included (commodity examples do not provide an exhaustive list and should not be relied upon to confirm whether your product is covered by this legislation – please refer to Commission Regulation (EC) No.1881/2006 for full details):
|
Contaminant Group
|
Specific Contaminant
|
Commodity Example(not limited to, conditions applied) |
|
Nitrate
|
|
Spinach, lettuce, processed cereal-based foods and baby foods |
|
Mycotoxins
|
Aflatoxins
|
Groundnuts, dried fruit, cereals, maize, raw milk, infant formula |
|
|
Ochratoxin A |
Coffee, wine, products derived from unprocessed cereals |
|
|
Patulin
|
Fruit juices, spirits, some baby foods |
|
|
Deoxynivalenol (DON) |
Cereals, dry pasta, bread |
|
|
Zearalenone
|
Cereals, bread, maize snacks |
|
|
Fumonisins
|
Maize
|
|
|
T-2 and HT-2 Toxin |
Unprocessed cereals |
|
Metals
|
Lead
|
Raw milk, meat, some vegetables, infant formula, fruit |
|
|
Cadmium
|
Meat, crustaceans, vegetables |
|
|
Mercury
|
Fish and meat |
|
|
Tin (inorganic) |
Caned foods and beverages |
|
3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol (3-MCPD) |
|
Hydrolysed vegetable protein and soy sauce |
|
Dioxins and PCBs |
|
Meat and meat products, raw milk, eggs, fats |
|
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons |
Benzo(a)pyrene
|
Oils, smoked meats, crustaceans |
Contravening the regulations is an offence and can be subject of a fine up to £5,000 and having the product concerned withdrawn and destroyed.
It is the responsibility of all food business operations to ensure foodstuffs meet with these regulatory limits and although there is no prescribed number of checks, it is recommended that you carry out risk-based controls. Genon Laboratories Limited carries out high quality food analysis for a number of mycotoxins, pesticides and residues to safeguard you against litigation.
General food safety law does require that members of the industry adopt Good Manufacturing Practices, HACCP procedures (training and courses available from Genon Laboratories Limited) and Good Agricultural Practice codes where appropriate. Following these codes of practice helps to protect but does not guarantee your product from contamination. Only testing the raw materials or finished goods can ensure the maximum permitted levels are not exceeded.
For more information see the Food Standards Agency’s guidance notes and the statutory instrument SI 2007/210.
