The European Commission Recommendation (EU) 2026/1307 encourages Member States, in collaboration with feed business operators, to monitor per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in animal feed during 2026-2028. The recommendation was introduced because PFAS are persistent environmental contaminants that can accumulate in food chains and ultimately contribute to human exposure through foods of animal origin. Based on EFSA's risk assessment, particular attention is given to the PFAS 4 substances (PFOS, PFOA, PFNA, and PFHxS), for which a tolerable weekly intake (TWI) has been established. The Commission highlights that limited data are currently available on PFAS occurrence in feed, making additional monitoring wanted. The monitoring programme should include a broad range of feed materials, including fish-derived feed ingredients, seaweed products, mineral feed materials, forage, silage, hay, fresh grass and compound feeds. Where elevated PFAS levels are detected in food of animal origin, follow-up investigations should also consider soil, drinking water and potential packaging-related contamination sources. Member States are encouraged to use sufficiently sensitive analytical methods with limits of quantification at or below 0.1 µg/kg for each PFAS and to report results to EFSA to support future risk assessments and potential regulatory measures.
Eurofins offers PFAS testing services for a wide variety of feed materials and can analyse both the PFAS4 compounds specified in the EU recommendation as well as a broader range of PFAS through extended target lists and screening packages. To accommodate the diversity of feed matrices, two dedicated analytical approaches are available. One method is optimised for forage-based materials such as grass, silage and hay (cellulose-rich matrices), while the second method is designed for cereal-, grain-, legume- and fish-based feed materials, as well as compound concentrates. Reporting limits (LOQs) for PFAS 4 are 0.1 µg/kg or lower. The forage (cellulose-rich) method is reported on a dry-weight basis. Sample preparation, including drying and milling, is included in the three forage packages listed below. For food and feed packages, a separate sample preparation step (LPP02) is typically added. The required sample amount is 100 g (minimum 50 g) for forage materials and 50-100 g (minimum 10 g) for other feed materials.
| Package Code | Name |
| PLW9W | PFAS 4 in cellulose rich matrices incl sample preparation |
| PLW9X | PFAS 22 in cellulose rich matrices incl. sample preparation |
| PLW9Y | PFAS cellulose rich matrices incl. sample preparation (47 PFAS) |
| PLW8F | PFAS 4 in food and feed |
| PLW9Q | PFAS 22 in food and feed DWD + 6:2 FTS + PFOSA |
| PLW8H | PFAS screening in food and feed (50 PFAS) |
(EU) 2026/1307 (EU recommendation)
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