Food Contaminants Regulation (EU) No 2023/915, effective May 25, 2023, updates the European framework on maximum contaminant limits in food. (1)
1) Contaminants Regulation (EU) No 2023/915, what’s new.
The New Food Contaminants Regulation (EU) No 2023/915 repeals the former Reg. (EC) 1881/2006, after 17 years, but without introducing any substantive changes. The new regulation simply consolidates into a single text the maximum contaminant thresholds that the European Commission has updated over the years through numerous amendments to Reg. (EC) 1881/06.
Therefore, the maximum contaminant thresholds-already set in Brussels, also taking into account food safety risk assessments by EFSA(European Food Safety Authority)-remain unchanged. Subject to the addition of melamine, referring specifically to infant products, the European Commission opted for a complete replacement of the regulation.
2) Food contaminants, definition
‘Food contaminant’
is ‘any substance not intentionally added to food that is present in such food as a result of the production (including operations carried out in agriculture, animal husbandry and veterinary medicine), manufacture, processing, preparation, treatment, packaging, transport or holding of such food, or as a result of environmental contamination.’ (2)
Major food contaminants are divided into three macro-categories:
– natural toxins (e.g., mycotoxins, alkaloids),
– environmental contaminants. Substances released into the atmosphere, water, soil enter the food chain (e.g. PFAS, dioxins and PCBs, mineral oil hydrocarbons, nitrates, microplastics and nanoplastics),
– process contaminants (e.g., acrylamide, fatty acid glycyl esters, 3-MCPD). (3)
2.1) Categories of contaminants
Annex I of the Food Contaminants Regulation (EU). No 2023/915 indicates the maximum contamination thresholds allowed in a range of foods. Having regard to:
– mycotoxins, (aflatoxins, ochratoxin A, patulin, deoxynivalenol (DON), zearalenone (ZEA), fumonisins, citrinin, sclerotia and alkaloids of Claviceps spp,
– Plant toxins. Erucic acid (including that bound in lipids), tropane alkaloids, hydrogen cyanide (including that combined with cyanogenetic glycosides), pyrrolizidine alkaloids, opiate alkaloids, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) equivalents,
– Heavy metals and other elements, such as lead, cadmium, mercury, arsenic, tin (inorganic)
– Halogenated persistent organic pollutants, such as dioxins and PCBs, perfluoroalkyl substances(PFAS),
– process contaminants, such as Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), 3-monochloro-1,2-propanediol (3-MCPD), sum of 3-monochloro propanediol and 3-MCPD fatty acid esters (expressed as 3-MCPD, Glycidyl esters of fatty acids expressed as glycidol),
– other contaminants such as nitrates, melamine, leachate.
In contrast, foreign matter-such as insect fragments, animal hair and the like-do not qualify as contaminants for the purposes of this legislation. (2)
3. General criteria
Foods listed in Annex I to the Food Contaminants Regulation (EU) No 2023/915 that exceed the contamination thresholds specified therein may not come:
– placed on the Union market or exported from it to third countries (under the General Food Law, reg. EC 178/02 Article 12),
– used as raw materials and/or ingredients in the production of food and beverages,
– Mixed with raw materials and/or ingredients and/or foods that comply with the maximum levels set out in Annex I to the Food Contaminants Regulation (EU) No 2023/915.
3.1) Matrices for analysis, compound products
Contaminant analysis is performed on the edible part of the food only, subject to the provisions in the comments in Annex I (EU Reg. 2023/915, Art. 2).
Where Annex I does not refer maximum contaminant limits to dried, diluted, processed or compounded foods, it is necessary to consider the impact of the relevant processes on contaminant concentration. Having regard also, for foods composed of several ingredients, to the relative proportions of the ingredients used in the products’ formula (EU Reg. 2023/915, Art. 3).
4) Protection of the economy
Primary objective of the Food Contaminants Regulation (EU). No 2023/915 is to ensure food safety and thus public health. The European Commission, nonetheless:
– considers some limits ‘excessively strict’ for certain products that are not intended directly for the final consumer or do not constitute food ingredients. E
– identifies two scenarios in which less stringent contamination thresholds can be applied, or not applied at all, with a view to balancing public health needs and safeguarding the economy and commerce.
4.1) Contaminant reduction
Some foods, before reaching the final consumer, may undergo sorting or other physical treatments that can lower the level of contaminant present. Under such circumstances:
– the prohibition to market or use such products as raw materials and/or food ingredients and/or foods before subjecting them to physical contaminant reduction treatments remains firm,
– however, it is possible to handle and transfer such food, subject to indication in label and on accompanying documents of the following wording: ”products to be subjected to sorting or other physical treatment to reduce contamination by [nome del contaminante/dei contaminanti] before being placed on the market for the final consumer or for use as a food ingredient‘ (Food Contaminants Regulation EU No 2023/915, art. 5.2),
– chemical decontamination is conversely prohibited to date, as there is not enough toxicological data and scientific evidence at present to guarantee the safety of the metabolites generated by this process (reg. EU 2023/915, Art. 4).
4.2) Non-human food products, oilseeds for crushing
Cereals, peanuts, oilseeds and their derivatives must always specify their intended use on the label and accompanying documents. And in the case of uncertainty about their intended use – if it is possible for them to be placed on the market as food – such products must comply with the maximum levels stipulated in Annex I to the Food Contaminants Regulation (EU) No 2023/915.
Oilseeds and peanuts intended for pressing or crushing, however, are exempted from meeting maximum contaminant levels. However, in these cases, the products must include the information ‘product to be pressed for the production of refined vegetable oil‘ on the label and accompanying documents, and their final destination must be a pressing plant (EU Reg. 2023/915, Art. 6).
5) Territorial exceptions
Exemptions to maximum thresholds for specific contaminants are granted in favor of some member states, provided that the foods in question are not marketed outside their territories:
– Latvia, Finland, and Sweden may place certain fish species caught in the Baltic Sea (only salmon in Latvia, also herring, trout, and eel in Finland and Sweden) with dioxin and/or PCB levels above the maximum levels set by this regulation on their national markets. (4) Provided that vulnerable groups of consumers are informed about ‘dietary recommendations‘ (rather than toxicological risks, please note),
– Ireland, Croatia, Cyprus, Spain, Poland, Portugal, Latvia, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden can market different kinds of meat and fish and meat and fish products ‘smoked by traditional method’ on their territories. with PAHs(Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons) contents higher than those established in Annex I. Provided that benzo(a)pyrene is < 5.0 μg/kg and the sum of benzo(a)pyrene, benzo(a)anthracene, benzo(b)fluoranthene and chrysene < 30.0 μg/kg.
6) Transitional measures, brief notes
Transitional measures for food legally placed on the market on a date prior to the introduction of new maximum contaminant levels-already provided for in Reg. EC 1881/06 – are confirmed, up to the expiration date or minimum shelf life of the relevant products.
Cosmetic variations do not alter the original framework of the Food Contaminants Regulation (EC) 1881/2006, nor do they reduce the huge gaps between EFSA toxicological assessments and Brussels-established thresholds (e.g., PFAS, dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs), nor do they address microplastic contamination.
Nothing new on the Western front.
Dario Dongo and Alessandra Mei
Notes
(1) Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/915 of 25 April 2023 on maximum levels for certain contaminants in food and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32023R0915
(2) Council Regulation (EEC) No 315/93 of 8 February 1993 laying down Community procedures for contaminants in food. See article 1 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A01993R0315-20090807
(3) Chemical contaminants in food and feed. EFSA https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/topics/topic/chemical-contaminants-food-feed
(4) EFSA provides advice on the safety and nutritional contribution of wild and farmed fish. Press release. 4.7.05 https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/news/efsa-provides-advice-safety-and-nutritional-contribution-wild-and-farmed-fish
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
Graduated in Law from the University of Bologna, she attended the Master in Food Law at the same University. You participate in the WIISE srl benefit team by dedicating yourself to European and international research and innovation projects.
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