Europe’s food alert system continues to highlight the diverse sources of contamination in food and feed worldwide
The EC has published its annual report into the food and feed alert system
July 24, 2008
The European Commission’s Directorate for Health and Consumers yesterday published its annual report on the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF). The system reported 953 alerts in 2007, up 5% from 912 in 2006. This included a number of food scares that were highlighted in the media, such as PCPs and dioxins in guar gum from India and also melamine in rice protein, a problem that mainly affected the USA. In addition to this the report shows the wide number of everyday sources of contamination and other incidents that are detected on a regular basis.
RASFF
In Europe, application of stringent and more harmonised food laws is seen as the first step to health and consumer protection. With the ever faster development of the international trade, the free circulation of goods in Europe, the internationalisation of the supply chain in food and feed industry combined with more complex, quicker and changing channels for goods, new threats to the health and safety arise. When a risk has been identified following testing and inspection (border control, rejected imports, screening samples, company’s own check, consumer complaint, market control), it is necessary to tackle it quickly and to isolate it in order to stop or limit any adverse effects. This is the purpose of the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF). Implemented by the European Commission, the RASFF is primarily a tool and a network for dissemination of information about food safety issues between Europe’s national competent authorities on food and feed matters, where a risk to human health has been identified and measures have been taken, such as withdrawal, recall, seizure or rejection of the products concerned. Food alert notifications are sent when a food or feed product presenting a serious risk is on the market and when immediate action is required. The notification aims to give all members of the network the necessary information to verify whether the concerned product is on their own market, so that they also can take the necessary measures. At the moment about 30 European countries are connected to RASFF.
Alerts
In 2007, the RASFF reported 953 alerts about foodstuffs that pose a serious threat to consumers. This was an increase from 912 in 2006, as well as being close to the previous high level of 956 in 2005. As usual during the year some of the alerts received wide media coverage around the world, such as melamine in rice protein concentrate, pentachlorophenol in depolymerised guar gum, PCBs in eel, high content of zinc in complete feed for piglets, 3-MPCD and radioactivity in frozen mushrooms. In addition the last two major food scares of 2006, unauthorised GMO rice and Sudan I dye, continued to be detected in 2007. Of course food crises do not stop at the year end: so far in 2008 food alerts have shown problems with dioxins in mozzarella in Italy and recently diesel-like additives in vegetable oil from Ukraine. Overall, the 10 most recurring alerts in 2007 were as follows:
1. Salmonella in meat
2. Parasites (larvae, worm, insects) in fish, fruits, dried fruits and nuts 3. Mercury in fish (tuna, swordfish, shark)
4. Aflatoxins in nuts
5. Listeria in fish & cheese
6. Benzo(a)pyrene (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) in fish, fats and oils
7. Pesticides in fruits and vegetables
8. Cadmium in crustaceans
9. Migration of Primary Aromatic Amines (PAA), phthalates and heavy metals from kitchen utensils and plastic articles
10. Dioxins in cod liver oil & veterinary drug residues
Out of this list, we have highlighted a small sample to illustrate the diverse and sometimes natural way in which human food can become contaminated:
Mercury in fish products: Fish and seafood contain mercury as a result of its natural presence in the environment (e.g. submarine volcanic activity) and from pollution. Large predatory fish such as tuna, swordfish and shark accumulate higher levels of mercury through intake over a long lifetime.
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in fish: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are a group of diverse organic compounds which are potentially genotoxic and carcinogenic. They enter food via the environment (e.g. combustion processes or contamination waters) or are formed as a result of certain food preparation, such as grilling, roasting and smoking.
Migration of primary aromatic amines (PAA): Primary aromatic amines (PAA) are suspected human carcinogens even at low level. They relate to migration from plastic materials, substances used in glues, adhesives or as colorants like kitchen utensils made of nylon and lids of glass jar.
Dioxins in cod liver oil: Dioxins are a group of environmentally persistent poly-chlorinated organic compounds. There are a few natural sources of dioxins, such as a forest fires and volcanic activity, but dioxins are for the largest part unintentional by-products of combustion and industrial processes: particularly toxic, they bioaccumulate in animals and humans due to their fat solubility. Approximately 60% of all the alerts related to perishable goods (see Table 1)
Table 1 – Food alerts by type of product
| Fish, crustaceans and molluscs | 21% |
| Meat & meat products | 13% |
| Fruit & vegetables (raw, ingredients) | 12% |
| Cereals & bakery products | 7% |
| Nut & nut products, snacks | 6% |
When analysed by the type of risk or contamination, more than three quarters referred to the classifications shown in Table 2 below. These remain fairly constant from year to year in terms of their relative proportion, but one-off food scares can alter that significantly. This happened in 2006 with the detection of unauthorised LL601 rice, leading to a Europe-wide ban and subsequent alerts as its presence was found in further shipments.
Table 2 – Food alerts by type of risk
| Microbiological hazards (contamination + pathogenic micro-organisms) | 22% |
| Foreign bodies and industrial contaminants | 15% |
| Heavy metals | 9% |
| Mycotoxins | 8% |
| Food additives | 7% |
| Undeclared/ unauthorised ingredients or substances (composition) | 7% |
| Food contact materials (migration) | 5% |
| Pesticide residues | 4% |
Finally, a trend over the last three years has been alerts regarding products of indirect/dual origin, passing through one country before being placed on the market in another, representing a quarter of food alerts in 2007. Most of the time, it is due to countries with more flexible food regulation and incomplete, less stringent or non-existent control whose products pass through one European country before being further distributed to other European markets.
Testing
As the worldwide leader on the food and feed testing market, Eurofins covers all important areas of food safety and composition testing, among them the most critical such as dioxins, pesticides, mycotoxins, organic contaminants and GMO. Through its international presence, the Group is well positioned to support its clients’ increasing requirements, providing testing services for those customers that are anxious to control the safety of their raw materials closer to the source around Europe and also in Asia and South America.
Eurofins played a lead role in supporting its clients in many areas of these alerts, following accredited methods in partnership with public authorities within a very short time and working on preventative strategies both after and even in advance of alerts. For example the Group supported Unipektin, the Swiss-based supplier hit by the guar-gum contamination, testing for PCPs and dioxins at Eurofins Competence Centre in Hamburg. The same laboratory also carried out a lot of dioxin tests on buffalo milk from Italy earlier this year, following the mozzarella contamination. In both of these instances it was Eurofins’ position as having the highest capacity laboratories in the world that enabled it to provide a fast and accurate response and so helped them to resolve the crisis faster than otherwise.
Dr. Gilles Martin, Eurofins CEO commented “Not only are the historic market fundamentals strong in our business but we would expect them to continue. For example in the past we have seen that an increase in food and feed prices like we see today encourages the substitution of cheaper, illegal or unauthorised substances. We are the only company in the world that can offer the breadth and expertise of testing and the international network of laboratories that can identify, prevent and restrict the contaminations that lead to food alerts and potential subsequent product withdrawals. We have published this release in response to frequent requests from our analysts and investors for concrete examples of the type of testing the Group carries out and how it can benefit our customers.”
For further information please visit www.eurofins.com or contact:Phone: +32-2-766 1620 E-mail: info@eurofins.com ir@eurofins.com Notes for the editor: