Food News

Alert notices from RASFF concerning food (except for fruit & vegetables - see special section)

Alarm

In this section we repeated alert notices from the RASFF system of the European commission issued in the previous month, which we thought to be noteworthy and of interest to our clients. 

 

 

We will refrain from repeating the numerous reports on all mycotoxin and salmonella limit violations but show only a selection to pinpoint the risks. However, we like to put your attention to the fact that in numerous cases missing allergen information was categorized as serious and caused border rejections too.

You can analyse the RASFF-site conveniently by yourself using several filter options and limit the notification to those which are of direct interest to your business. Link: https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/rasff-window/screen/search

 

Chemical Hazards:

Product

Origin

3-monochlor-1,2-propanediol (3-MCPD)

in cassave crackers 5292 µg/kg

Netherlands

in palm oil

Ghana

Acrylamide

in biscuits 444-964 µg/kg (400 µg/kg)

Romania

Ethylene oxide (EO) /
2-chlorethanol (CE):

EO 0,066 mg/kg (0,02 mg)kg) in dried shallots 

India

EO in Capsicum annuum

India

EO in organic spice mix

India

EO in cardamom fruits in shell 0,94 mg/kg (0,1 mg/kg)

Germany

Heavy and toxic metals

Cadmium on mussels  1,65 mg/kg (0,5 mg/kg)

Chile

Histamine

above legal limits in mackerel fillets

Poland

in frozen tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis)

Portugal

up to 3743 mg/kg in frozen yellowfin tuna loins

Vietnam

in tuna spread 1267 mg/kg (!!)(28 mg/kg)

Czech Republic

in "VeroSapore Anchovy Fillets" in extra virgin olive oil 935 mg/kg (400 mg/kg) and unsuitable organoleptic characteristics

Italy

Mycotoxins

Aflatoxin B1 5,6 µg/kg (2µg/kg) in maize

France

Aflatoxins in dried figs (4)

Turkey (4)

Aflatoxins in peanuts (3)

China (1), USA(2)

Aflatoxins in masala spice mix

Pakistan

Aflatoxins above legal limits in shelled pistachios (5)

USA (2), Turkey(2), Iran (1)

Ochratoxin A 28 µg/kg (10µg/kg) in organic raisins

Uzbekistan

Nitrate

Too high content of nitrate  302,6 mg/kg (200 mg/kg) in organic baby food

France

PAH

Benzo[a]pyrene 31,61 µg/kg (10 µg/kg) and  Anthraquinone +) in dried star anise

Vietnam

Pesticides

Chlorpyrifos +) 0,012 mg/kg (0,01 mg/kg) in dried black-eyed beans

Turkey

Chlorpyrifos +) 0,023 mg/kg (0,01 mg/kg) in red raisins

Afghanistan

Chlorpyrifos +) 0,031 mg/kg (0,01 mg/kg) and Chlorpyrifos-methyl +) 0,15 mg/kg (!)(0,01 mg/kg) in frozen semi-dried tomatoes

Turkey

Chlorpyrifos +) 0,026 mg/kg (0,01 mg/kg)  Captan & Iprodion in dried grapes (sultanas)

Iran

Chlorpyrifos +) 0,032 mg/kg (0,01 mg/kg) in wheat consignment

unknown

Chlorpyrifos +) 0,63 mg/kg (!) (0,05 mg/kg)  and Malathion 0,062  (0,05) in dried spearmint leaves

Egypt

Chlorpyrifos +) 0,26 mg/kg (!) (0,05 mg/kg)  and Profenofos+) 0,59 mg/kg (0,26 mg/kg)in dried spearmint

Greece

Chlorpyrifos +) 0,30 mg/kg (0,05 mg/kg)  in dried rubbed spearmint leaves

Egypt

Anthraquinone +) 0,38 mg/kg (!) (0,02 mg/kg) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in dried star anise

Vietnam

Pyrrolizidine alkaloids

in cumin 17512 µg/kg (!!), 7290 µg/kg (!) (400 µg/kg) (3)

Turkey (2), unknown (1)

Sudan dyes and other unauthorized colorants +)

Sudan I, IV & Rhodamin B in chilli powder

Bangladesh

Sudan IV in Sumac 900 µg/kg

France

Sudan dyes (I and IV) in roasted paprika

Turkey

Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) +) and Cannabidiol (CBD) +)

Novel food ingredient hemp extract and high content of THC in food supplements

Czech Republic

 

+) application is prohibited

MRL exceeded: (!) ≥10 times, (!!) ≥50 times, (!!!) ≥ 100 times

 

Microbiological Hazards

Product

Origin

E.coli

in cheese (Brillat savarin au lait cru)

France

in mussels (Mytilus Galloprovincialis) with raw material from Spain (2)

Italy (2)

E.coli EHEC/EPEC/STEC/VTEC

Possible STEC (stx+;eae+) in raw milk goat cheese

Belgium

STEC in beef carpaccio

Netherlands

STEC (stx+;eae+) in veal burger

Belgium

Listeria monocytogenes

in a batch of salmon tartar

France

in smoked eel fillets

Poland

in smoked salmon

Denmark

in Obela Hummus Classic

Netherlands

in fresh yeast

Germany

Salmonella

in anise seeds

Syria

Salmonella Worthington in pistachios

USA

in black pepper (3)

Brazil (2) , Tanzania (1)

Salmonella Agona in Mediterranean mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis)

Italy/Spain

in sesame seeds (2)

Nigeria (2)

Salmonella and Listeria in goose liver

France

Vibrio spp.

Vibrio parahaemolyticus in mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis)

Italy/Spain

Norovirus*

Genotype I in clam (Chamelea gallina) and
genotypes I and II in baby clam (Chamelea gallina)

Italy (2)

 

Other Hazards

Origin

Presence of live larvae of anisakis in marinated anchovies

Italy

Anisakis in hake roe

Morocco

Presence of Anisakis larvae in hake (Merluccius merluccius) from Spain

Italy

 

YOUR PLUS: Our laboratory AGROLAB Dr. Blasy-Dr. Busse is allowed to work with pathogenic food viruses and offers also analysis for Norovirus and Hepatitis A virus. 

 

Author: Dr. Frank Mörsberger