FOOD AND HEALTH ESSENTIALS

Codex Alimentarius Standards updated for contaminants

The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations has recently published a number of changes to its requirements related to contaminants in food and feed, under the internationally-accepted Codex Alimentarius.

The first change is the release of a newly consolidated version of the Codex Alimentarius General Standard for Contaminants and Toxins in Food and Feed (CXS 193-1995). Published in November 2017, the updated standard sets new limits for lead concentration levels in certain food products. These include not more than 0.4 mg of lead per kilogramme (mg/kg) for jams, jellies and marmalades, and 0.05 mg/kg for preserved tomatoes.

In addition, the Codex Alimentarius Commission has recently released two more contaminant-related standards. The first, CAC/RCP 77-2017, presents a code of practice for the prevention and reduction of arsenic contamination in rice. The second, CAC/RCP 78-2017, establishes a code of practice for the prevention and reduction of mycotoxins in spices.

The complete text of the updated CXS 193-195 is available here. The text of CAC/RCP 77-2017 is available here, and the text of CAC/RCP 78-2017 is available here.