Food News

Alert notices from RASFF concerning food (except 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 Products Origin
3-MCPD & Glycidylesters 3-MCPD in fish oil softgel China
3-MCPD 3.200 µg/kg (2.500 µg/kg)in fish oil  Colombia
Acrylamide 2.681 µg/kg (750 µg/kg) in vegetable chips Poland
1.999 µg/kg (750 µg/kg)  in vegetable chips Netherlands
Antibiotics, vet. drug residues Lincomycine >150 mg/kg (100 mg/kg) in pig meat Spain
Oxytetracycline 354 µg/kg (100 µg/kg) in frozen Vannamei shrimps Vietnam, notified by Netherlands
Oxytetracycline 167 µg/kg (100 µg/kg) in frozen chicken meat Brazil, via Netherlands
Biogenic amines Histamine 405 mg/kg (200 mg/kg) in mackerel Netherlands
Histamine exceeded in mackerel fillets France
Histamine 294 mg/kg (200 mg/kg) in sardines France
Erucic acid 44,3% (5%) in mustard oil India
Ethylene oxide (EO) / 2-chlorethanol (2-CE) +) EO 3,6 mg/kg (!) (0,1 mg/kg) in spices India
EO 95 -161 mg/kg (!!!) (0,1 mg/kg) in spice mixtures Pakistan
EO 14,3 mg/kg (!!!) (0,1 mg/kg)in spice mix India, via Germany
2-CE 0,05 mg/kg (0,02 mg/kg)in dried white beans Egypt
2-CE 0,049 mg/kg (0,02 mg/kg) in dried white beans Slovenia
Heavy and toxic metals Cadmium 0,27, 0,34, 0,43 mg/kg (0,15 mg/kg)  in organic rice Italy, via Germany
Cadmium 0,24 mg/kg (0,15 mg/kg) in brown rice Italy
Lead 0,23 mg/kg (0,15 mg/kg) in wild boar salami Hungary
Mercury 1,9, 2,33 & 2,03 mg/kg (1 mg/kg) in swordfish Spain (3)
Hydrocyanic acid (prussic acid), cyanides Cyanuric acid 2.904 (!!!) (20 mg/kg) in apricot kernels Tajikistan
Mineral oil components (MOSH, MOAH)     
Mycotoxins Aflatoxin B1 12 µg/kg (8 µg/kg), aflatoxins (total) 13 µg/kg (10 µg/kg); Ochratoxin A 87 µg/kg (!) (5 µg/kg) in pistachios Iran
Aflatoxin B1 112 µg/kg (!) (8 µg/kg), aflatoxins (total) 127 µg/kg (!) (10 µg/kg) in pistachios Turkey
Aflatoxin B1 73,3 µg/kg (8 µg/kg), aflatoxins (total) 81,2 µg/kg (10 µg/kg) in almonds USA, via Italy
Aflatoxin B1 26 & 420 (!!) µg/kg (8 µg/kg), aflatoxins (total)38 & 466 (!) µg/kg (10 µg/kg) in almond croquant Spain
Aflatoxin B1 14 &38 µg/kg (!) (2 µg/kg) Aflatoxins (total) 14 & 42,5 µg/kg (!) (4 µg/kg) in groundnuts USA (2)
Aflatoxin B1 140(!), 120 (!), 240 (!), 30,0, 16,7 & 30,9 µg/kg (8 µg/kg), aflatoxins (total) 150 (!), 130 (!), 260 (!), 30,0, 17 & 34,3 µg/kg (10 µg/kg) in pistachios USA, via Turkey (6)
Aflatoxin B1 5,2  & 7,2 µg/kg (2 µg/kg) in Basmati rice Pakistan
Aflatoxin B1 20,8 µg/kg (5 µg/kg) Aflatoxins (total) 22,4 µg/kg (10 µg/kg) in husked rice Pakistan
Aflatoxin B1 33 µg/kg (5 µg/kg) Aflatoxins (total) 36 µg/kg (10 µg/kg) in nutmeg powder India
Aflatoxin B1 16,8 µg/kg (6 µg/kg), Aflatoxins (total) 28,8 µg/kg (10 µg/kg) in dried figs  Turkey
Ochratoxin A 10,3 µg/kg (3 µg/kg) in ground coffee Italy
Ochratoxin A 16 µg/kg (8 µg/kg) in raisins China
Ochratoxin A 16,3 µg/kg (8 µg/kg) in raisins Turkey
Ochratoxin A 14,23 µg/kg (8 µg/kg) in raisins Uzbekistan
Ochratoxin A 10,2 µg/kg (5 µg/kg) in wheat France
Ochratoxin A 89,5 µg/kg (15 µg/kg) in spice mix Togo, via Belgium
Ochratoxin A 23 µg/kg (3 µg/kg) in crunchy muesli with nuts and almonds Germany
Nitrofuranes    
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH)  PAH total 5,5 µg/kg in rice wafers   Belgium
Pesticides          Chlorpyrifos +) 0,044 mg/kg (0,01 mg/kg) in black-eyed peas UK, via Netherlands
Chlorpyrifos +) 0,034 & 0,019 mg/kg (0,01 mg/kg) in black-eyed beans Madagascar
Chlorpyrifos +) 0,034 mg/kg (0,01 mg/kg) in red African beans Ghana, via Netherlands
Chlorpyrifos +) 0,022 mg/kg (0,01 mg/kg) in green olives Jordan
Chlorpyrifos +) 0,08 mg/kg (0,01 mg/kg) in dried lemons Turkey
Chlorpyrifos-ethyl +) 0,039 mg/kg (0,01 mg/kg) in rice Pakistan
Azoxystrobin 2,1 mg/kg (1mg/kg) in parsley Egypt
Carbendazim +) 0,038 mg/kg (0,01 mg/kg) Thiamethoxam +) 0,17 (!) mg/kg(0,01) Trcyclazole +) 0,29 (!) mg/kg (0,01 mg/kg) in Basmati rice  India
Tolfenpyrad 0,063 mg/kg (0,01 mg/kg) in black tea India
Dinotefuran +) 0,13 mg/kg (!) (0,01 mg/kg) in green and black tea China
Procymidone +) 0,025 (0,01 mg/kg ) in lentils Saudi Arabia, via UK
Pyrrolizidine alkaloids    
Sudan dyes and other forbidden dyes +) Leucomalachite green 1,19 µg/kg  in catfish fillets (Clarias gariepinus) Vietnam
Unauthorised use of colour E 171 - titanium dioxide in candy Mexico
Tartrazine (E102) 1894 mg/kg, Allura Red AC (E129) 1.966 mg/kg, Brilliant Blue FCF (E133) 111,3 mg/kg in cotton candy USA 
Sulphites (SO2) Undeclared sulphites in jam  Belgium
3.735 µg/kg & 4.552 µg/kg (2000 µg/kg) in dried apricots Uzbekistan
Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) & Cannabidiol (CBD) +) Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) 125,4 mgkg (capsule) and cannabidiol (CBD) in food supplements Netherlands
Cannabidiol (CBD) 168 mg/kg in hemp-herbal tea Netherlands
Tropane alkaoids Atropine and scopolamine in millet  Italy

 

+) application is prohibited

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

 

 

Microbiological hazards Product Origin
E.coli  E. coli in clams (Chamelea gallina) (3) Portugal (1), Italy (1), France (1)
E.coli EHEC/EPEC/STEC/VTEC E. coli VTEC in robiola goat cheese from raw milk Italy
E.coli STEC O26 in dairy product Italy
Shigatoxin-producing E. coli (STEC) in feta Greece
Listeria monocytogenes in turkey salami France
in mackerels  Czech Republic, notified by Austria
in smoked salmon  Denmark
in raw milk cheese France
Salmonella in egg powder used to mug cake mix Hungary (3)
in cured sausage (salsiccia stagionata) Italy
in walnut kernels (raw material from the USA) Italy
in smoked salmon  Serbia
in black pepper (3) Brazil (3)
in sausage sticks Netherlands
 in ice cream France
in sesame seeds (2) Turkey (1), Nigeria (1)
Vibrio cholerae in frozen shrimps (3) Ecuador, notified by Spain (3)

 

Other hazards  Origin
Unauthorised food additives (E407 and E410) in jelly strips can cause choking. Germany
Suspected botulism due to fresh potato tortilla from Spain Spain

 

 

Author: Dr. Frank Mörsberger