Food and Health E-ssentials

US EPA IMPLEMENTS NEW LIMITS FOR TEA ADDITIVE

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a rule authorising limited residues of the fungicide fenbuconazole in or on dried or instant tea.

The Final Rule, which was recently published in the U.S. Federal Register, sets a tolerance limit of 30 parts per million (ppm) of the sum of fenbuconazole and its metabolites in both dried and instant teas. The Codex Alimentarius has not established a maximum residue level (MRL) for fenbuconazole, but the FDA says that the new limits are based on its own extensive analysis of available scientific data on the safety of the fungicide.

According to the Final Rule, the FDA’s action was in response to a petition it received in 2018 from Dow AgroSciences, a major manufacturer of agricultural chemicals and pesticides.

Although the limits identified by the Final Rule took effect as of the end of October, interested parties can file objections or a request for hearings on the change on or before 24 December 2019. Filings can be made through the U.S. federal eRulemaking portal here (reference docket ID number EPA-HQ-OPP-2018-0300).

The text of the Final Rule issued by the U.S. FDA on fenbuconazole is available here.