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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-MCPD & glycidyl esters | 3-MCPD 3400 µg/kg (1250 µg/kg) and glycidyl esters 1900 µg/kg (1000 µg/kg) in rice oil | Spain |
| Acrylamide | 518 µg/kg (350 µg/kg) in oatmeal cookies | Ukraine |
| 1079 µg/kg (300 µg/kg) in rye flakes | Poland | |
| Biogenic amines | Histamine 508,3 mg/kg (200 mg/kg) in mackerel | notified by Netherlands |
| Histamine too high (200 mg/kg) in chilled yellowfin tuna | Spain | |
| Histamine 632 & 382 mg/kg (200 mg/kg) in mackerel | Netherlands | |
| Biotoxins | ASP toxins in scallop shell | UK, notified by France |
| Ethylene oxide (EO) / 2-chlorethanol (2-CE) +) | EO 0,15 mg/kg & 72 mg/kg (!) (0,1 mg/kg) in ayurvedic herbal supplement | India (2) |
| Heavy and toxic metals | Cadmium 6,5 mg/kg (!) (0,2 mg/kg) in dried spinach | Poland |
| Cadmium 1,8 mg/kg (1 mg)kg) in mussels | Chile | |
| Lead 0,06 mg/kg (0,02 mg/kg) in baby food | Czech Republic | |
| Mercury 1,2 mg/kg (0,5 mg/kg) in sea bram | Italy | |
| Hydrocyanic acid (prussic acid), cyanides | Cyanide 10,65 mg/kg in food supplements | Bulgaria, notified by Germany |
| Cyanide 116,5 mg/kg (!) in Cassava flour | Nigeria | |
| Iodine | High iodine content (65 mg/kg) in dried seaweed | China via Netherlands |
| High iodine content (52 mg/kg) in dried seaweed | South Korea via Netherlands | |
| Mineral oil components (MOSH, MOAH) | MOSH/POSH 34 mg/kg MOAH, 8,26 mg/kg in organic olive oil | Spain |
| Mycotoxins | Aflatoxin B1 12 µg/kg (8 µg/kg), aflatoxins (total) 13 µg/kg (10 µg/kg) in rice | Pakistan |
| Aflatoxin B1 15,5 µg/kg (5 µg/kg) in curcuma | India | |
| Aflatoxin B1 116 µg/kg (!) & 22 µg/kg (5 µg/kg) Aflatoxins (total) 173 µg/kg (!) & 23 µg/kg (10 µg/kg) in nutmeg powder | Indonesia (2) | |
| Aflatoxin B1 18,7 µg/kg & 28 µg/kg (6 µg/kg); Aflatoxins (total) 20,5 µg/kg & 32 µg/kg (10 µg/kg) in dried figs | Turkey (2) | |
| Deoxynivalenol (DON) 1583 & 1032 µg/kg (750 µg/kg) in corn grits | Ukraine (2) | |
| Ochratoxin A 44 µg/kg (8 µg/kg) in dried figs | Turkey | |
| Ochratoxin A 17 µg/kg (5 µg/kg) in sunflower seeds | unknown via Germany | |
| Ochratoxin A 77,7 µg/kg (20 µg/kg) in spice preparation | Turkey via Switzerland | |
| Ochratoxin A 31,6 µg/kg (5 µg/kg) in hulled sunflower seeds | Bulgaria | |
| Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) | Benzo[a]pyrene 11,7 µg/kg & 38,4 µg/kg (!) (2 µg/kg); PAH (sum) 100 µg/kg & 239 µg/kg (!) (12 µg/kg) in smoked fish (2) | Ghana, notified by Belgium (2) |
| Pesticides | Chlorpyrifos +) 0,152 mg/kg (0,07 mg/kg ) in pepper (pimenton) | China |
| Chlorpyrifos +) 0,067 mg/kg (0,01 mg/kg), Fipronil +) 0,18 mg/kg (!) (0,005 mg/kg), Imidacloprid +) 0,079 mg/kg (0,01 mg/kg), Pyriproxyfen 0,17 mg/kg (0,05 mg/kg), Tebuconazole 0,23 mg/kg (0,05 mg/kg) and Tolfenpyrad +) 0,26 mg/kg (!) (0,01 mg/kg) in chili powder | Bangladesh | |
| Chlorpyrifos +) 0,023 mg/kg (0,01 mg/kg); Imazalil 0,026 mg/kg (0,01 mg/kg) in green olives | Egypt | |
| Chlorate +) 4,8 mg/kg (!), 3,51 mg/kg (!), 3,3 mg/kg (!), 2,71 mg/kg (!), 2,46 mg/kg (!) & 2,07 mg/kg (!) (0,05 mg/kg) in poultry meat preparations | Thailand (6) | |
| Anthraquinone 0,12 mg/kg (0,02 mg/kg) in Mate tea | Brazil | |
| Chlorpyrifos +) 0,028 mg/kg (0,01 mg/kg) & Ethylene oxide +) 0,16 mg/kg (0,1 mg/kg) in cumin seeds | India | |
| Chlorpyrifos +) 0,016 mg/kg (0,01 mg/kg ) in rice | Pakistan | |
| Pyrrolizidine alkaloids | 2074 µg/kg (400 µg/kg) in cumin seeds | Turkey |
| 786 µg/kg (200 µg/kg) in herbal infusion | China, notified by Belgium | |
| 4285 µg/kg (1000 µg/kg) in dried oregano | Turkey | |
| Sudan dyes and other forbidden dyes +) | Unauthorized food additive tartrazine (E 102) in pickled cucumbers | USA |
| Sudan IV in curry powder | Vietnam | |
| Malachite green and leuco-malachite green in frozen shrimp | Vietnam, notified by France | |
| Sulfites (SO2) | 734,7 mg/kg in peeled shrimp tail | Ecuador, notified by France |
| Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) | 1130 mg/kg in cookies | Slovenia |
| Tropane alkaoids | Tropane alkaloids 40 µg/kg (10 µg/kg) in sourdough powder | France |
+) application is prohibited
MRL exceeded: (!) ≥10 times, (!!) ≥50 times, (!!!) ≥ 100 times
| Microbiological Hazards | Product | Origin |
| Bacillus cereus | 380 cfu/g in dried wood ear mushrooms | Vietnam |
| E.coli | E. coli 480 cfu/100g ( <230 cfu/100g) in live clams |
UK, notified by Netherlands |
| Listeria monocytogenes | in cheese (2) | France (2) |
| in cheese ("Der scharfe Max") | Switzerland | |
| in hot smoked salmon in pieces | Poland | |
| in smoked salmon with raw material from Norway |
Spain | |
| Salmonella | in smoked herring | Belgium |
| in organic paprika powder | Spain | |
| in smoked salmon (2) | Denmark (1), Poland (1) |
|
| in sesame seeds | India | |
| Vibrio cholerae | in frozen shrimps (3) | Ecuador (3) |
| Other Hazards | Origin |
| Presence of small stones in crunchy Muesli | Italy | |
| Food poisoning from long life milk (Jumbo) | Belgium | |
Author: Dr. Frank Mörsberger
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