Date Published:
17 February 2009 |
Agency seeks views on food contaminant regulations
The Food Standards Agency has extended the length of its consultation on the
draft Contaminants in Food Regulations by a further eight weeks to take into
account the new provisions of a Commission Regulation coming into force on 2
March 2009 and applying from 1 July 2009.
The draft Contaminants in Food (England) Regulations 2009 propose to make provisions
for the enforcement authorities in England to enforce the requirements of new
Commission Regulations amending Regulation (EC) No. 1881/2006, which sets maximum
levels for certain contaminants in foodstuffs. In particular, Commission Regulation
(EC) No, 565/2008 establishes a maximum level for dioxins and PCBs in fish liver.
The proposals for England also provide for the enforcement of Commission Regulation
(EC) No. 629/2008, setting maximum levels for certain other contaminants in
foodstuffs.
Similar regulations proposed for Scotland and Northern Ireland are also being
consulted on via the links below. The consultation length for each of these
will be extended as the updated draft regulations become available.
Background
Coccidiostats and histomonostats are veterinary medicines authorised for use
in animal feeds. The Veterinary Medicines Direct (VMD) normally lead on any
regulatory issues, such as maximum residue limits (MRLs) in formulated feeds
and resulting limits in food. Because the European Commission’s concern
about the possible carry-over into batches of feed that are not intentionally
formulated with coccidiostats or histomonostats they have felt it necessary
to introduce a Directive limiting the permissible amount of coccidiostat carry-over
into feed and, at the same time, a Regulation limiting the resulting residue
in food of non-target animals.
The unavoidable carry-over in non-target feed of active substances contained
in authorised coccidiostats and histomonostats are considered as undesirable
substances in animal feed within the meaning of Directive 2002/32/EC and their
presence should not endanger animal health, human health or the environment.
Therefore, maximum levels for these substances in animal feed are established
by a Commission Directive amending Annex I to Directive 2002/32/EC.
Council Regulation (EEC) No. 315/93 lays down Community procedures for contaminants
in food and it has therefore been amended to establish a provision for food
of animal origin contaminated by the non-target feed concerned. The provisions
of Regulation (EC) No. 124/2009 are made under Council Regulation (EEC) No.
315/93, which lays down the Community procedures for contaminants in food. These
contaminants are defined as:
* 'any substance not intentionally added to food which is present in such
food as a result of its production and processing, preparation and treatment
etc (including operations carried out in crop husbandry, animal husbandry and
veterinary medicine), manufacture, processing, preparation, treatment, packing,
packaging, transport or holding of such food, or as a result of environmental
contamination. Extraneous matter, such as, for example, insects, fragments,
animal hair, etc, is not covered by this definition.
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Material in this news item was released by the UK Food Standards Agency on 17
February 2009 and may have been edited (e.g. in
style, length, and/or for ease of understanding by our international readers)
for inclusion here. For further information, please visit their website. A link
is provided below.
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