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) & Glycidylesters (GEs)  3-MCPD 4599 µg/kg & GEs 2073 µg/kg in nacho mexicanos China
2900 µg/kg (1000 µg/kg) Glycidol in palm oil Indonesia
Ethylene oxide (EO) /
2-chlorethanol (CE) +)		 EO 1,1 mg/kg (!) (0,1 mg)kg) and Ochratoxin A 132 µg/kg (15 µg/kg)in grounded nutmeg India via Turkey
EO 0,28 mg/kg (0,1 mg)kg) and Chlorpyriphos +) 0,095 (0,01 mg/kg) in turmeric powder India via Turkey
EO 0,81 mg/kg  (!) (0,01 mg/kg) in cumin seeds India
EO 0,043 mg/kg (0,025 mg/kg) in masala India
EO 12 mg/kg  (!!) (0,02 mg/kg)  in food supplements India
Furans furan and its derivatives in roasted ground coffee Germany
Heavy and toxic metals Cadmium 0,26 mg/kg (0,1 mg/kg) in white sesame seeds Bolivia
Cadmium 5,6 mg/kg in frozen whole Indo-Pacific squid Italy
Aluminium 37100 mg/kg and lead 12,7 mg/kg (3 mg/kg) in and unauthorised novel food ingredient zeolite Austria
Increased aluminium content 186 mg/kg in glass noodles Vietnam
Histamine 876 mg/kg  & 2868 mg/kg (!) (200 mg/kg) on tuna loins Sri Lanka (2)
Hydrocyanic acid >150 mg HCN/kg, & 124 mg/kg (20 mg/kg) in apricot seeds Germany
Mycotoxins Aflatoxins in rice Pakistan
Aflatoxin B1 29 /16,49 / 19,21 & 86,2  µg/kg (!)(6 µg/kg) Aflatoxins (total) 40 / 17,99 /19,84 & 105,2 µg/kg (!) (10 µg/kg) in dried figs Turkey (4)
Aflatoxin B1 14 µg/kg (5 µg/kg) Aflatoxins (total) 19 µg/kg (10 µg/kg) in whole nutmeg Indonesia
Aflatoxin B1 90,92 (!) & 47,8 µg/kg (8 µg/kg) Aflatoxins (total) 97,52 &  51,4   µg/kg (10 µg/kg/15 µg/kg) in (organic) pistachio kernels Iran (2)
Aflatoxin B1 90,92 µg/kg (!) (8 µg/kg)) in pistachios Netherlands
Aflatoxin B1 45 & 16 µg/kg (8 µg/kg) Aflatoxins (total) 50 & 18  µg/kg (10 µg/kg) in pistachios Turkey (2)
Ochratoxin A 14,5 µg/kg in shelled sunflower seeds China
Patuline in apple sauce Netherlands
PAH Benzo(a)pyren and PAH in smoked sprats Latvia
Benzo(a)pyren 21,2 µg/kg (10 µg/kg) and PAH total 192,.7 µg/kg (50 µg/kg) in Jalapeno green unknown via Netherlands
Pesticides Chlorpyrifos +) 0,062 mg/kg (0,01 mg/kg) in rice Pakistan
Tricyclazole +)  0,049 mg/kg (0,01 mg/kg) in rice Netherlands
Tricyclazole +)  0,033 mg/kg (0,01 mg/kg) in Basmati rice India
Carbendazim, propiconazole and tricyclazole in rice Paraguay
Tolfenpyrad +) 0,057 mg/kg (0,01 mg/kg in instant black tea extract powder China
Anthraquinone +) 0,051 mg/kg (0,02 mg/kg) sum of folpet and phtalimide expressed as folpet 0,31 mg/kg (!!) (0,01 mg/kg) in green tea China
Dinotefuran +)  0,12 mg/kg (!) (0,01m mg/kg) and Tolfenpyrad +)0,1 mg/kg (!) (0,01 mg/kg) in green tea Ukraine (raw material: China)
Anthraquinone +) 0,12 mg/kg (0,02 mg/kg) in yerba mate Argentina
Fenpropathrin 0,15 mg/kg (!) & 0,14 mg/kg (!) (0,01 mg/kg) in pepper Egypt (2)
Actamiprid 0,154 mg/kg (!) (0,01 mg/kg), Azoxystrobin 0,4 mg/kg (0,1), Carbendazim +) 0,237 / 0,366 mg/kg (!!) (0,01) Thiophanate-methyl 0,233 (!) (0,01), Chlorpyrifos +) 0,024 mg/kg (0,01), Propiconazole 0,068 mg/kg (0,01) Imidacloprid +) 0,382 mg/kg (!!) (0,01), Propargite 0,218 mg/kg) (!) (0,01) in pickled vine leaves Egypt
Chlorpyrifos +) 0,12 mg/kg, Lambda-cyhalothrin 0,19 mg/kg and 4 other actives n/a in crushed chili pepper Egypt
Chlorpyrifos +) 0,08 mg/kg (0,01 mg/kg) in fennel seeds Turkey
Chlorpyrifos +) 0,025 mg/kg (0,01 mg/kg),  Thiamethoxam 0,33 mg/kg (0,05 mg/kg) and Tricyclazole 1,7 mg/kg (!) (0,05 mg/kg) in cumin seeds India
Malathion 0,04 mg/kg (0,02 mg/kg) in pistachios USA
Acetamiprid 0,28 mg/kg (0,05 mg/kg), Chlorpyrifos methyl +) 0,36 mg/kg (!) (0,01), Thiamethoxame 0,15 mg/kg (0,05 mg/kg), Thiophanate-methyl 0,25 mg/kg (0,10mg/kg) in Fenugreek leaves India
Pyrrolizidine alkaloids 11.608,3 (!!) µg/kg (200 µg/kg) in Hayatea herbal tea with peppermint, mentha pulegium (pennyroyal), sage, verveine, and oregano Morocco
2470 µg/kg (400 µg/kg) in camomile tea  France
700 µg/kg (150 µg/kg) in black tea Poland via Austria
in oregano (n/a) Turkey
1148.9 µg/kg (400 µg/kg) in cumin seeds Turkey
702 µg/kg (400 µg/kg) in ginkgo biloba extract France
1.187 µg/kg (500 µg/kg) in pollen Poland
Sudan dyes +) and other unauthorized colorants +) Sudan III in palm oil (n/a) Ghana
Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) +) and Cannabidiol (CBD) +) Unauthorized novel food ingredient cannabidiol (CBD) in hemp aroma extract and in in food supplements Austria (2)
Cannabidiol (CBD) in food supplements offered online UK
total THC limit exceeded in hemp seed oil Italy
Titanium oxide (E171) +) in food supplements (2) USA (1), United Kingdom (1)
in food colourings itended for decorative purposes Spain
Tropane alkaloids Atropin 29 µg/kg (!!) (1µg/kg) Scopolamin 23 µg/kg (!) (1 µg/kg)in organic hulled millet Poland

 

+) application is prohibited

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

 

Microbiological Hazards Product Origin
E.coli EHEC/EPEC/STEC/VTEC STEC in frozen croissants France
Listeria monocytogenes in vegan cheese (2) and foie gras alternative (1) France (2)
in smoked salmon (2) Denmark (1), France (1)
in crumbled blue cheese Denmark
in hummus (2) Netherlands (2)
in thermised milk sheep's cheese France
in gorgonzola Italy
in goat cheese Croatia
in Mortadelle Italy
in leverkaas Belgium
Salmonella and Listeria in mixed meat platter Belgium
Salmonella in Keulse Smeerleverworst Netherlands
Salmonella entritidis in eggs  Netherlands
in black pepper (6) Brazil (6)
Salmonella typhimurium in chilled turkey fillets Poland
in sesame seeds (7) India (1), Nigeria (6)
Staphylococci Staphylococcus aureus 2,7 x105 CFU/g in pasta Italy
Vibrio spp.  in frozen octopus Senegal
in frozen shrimps Venezuela
Norovirus* in oysters (Crassostrea gigas) (7) France (5), Ireland (1), Norway (2)

 

Other Hazards  Origin
Foreign bodies (living worms) in canned peas Poland
Unauthorised GMO and labelling deficiencies in rice noodles Thailand via Netherlands
E-trade of bread prepared with a herbal tea of dried flowers of Clitoria ternatea (unauthorised novel food) Spain
Transition of MOSH and MOAH from packaging material into spelt porridge from Poland Poland

 

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