Current and emerging concerns about chemical contaminants in foods - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Current and emerging concerns about chemical contaminants in foods

A PROPOSED RISK MANAGEMENT APPROACH TO ADDRESS CHEMICALS INADVERTENTLY PRESENT IN FOOD AT LOW LEVELS

RAJ RAJASEKAR MINISTRY FOR PRIMARY INDUSTRIES NEW ZEALAND

Food Contaminants: the global scene

 Contaminants an ever present threat to food safety  Codex and national regulators have well established risk

management strategies and guidelines to deal with contaminants such as mercury, lead, aflatoxins and environmental contaminants;

 Growing focus on process related contaminants such as Acrylamide

and 3 MCPD

 Emerging concerns around the impact of climate change and

global warming and threat of contaminants( e.g. marine biotoxins)

Food Contaminants: The broader context

 Potential for chemicals to inadvertently get into food long

recognised by regulatory authorities;

 The Codex Alimentarius Commission(CAC), the international food

standards body already has well established processes for dealing with pesticides, veterinary drugs and contaminants;

 Growing imperative to look beyond these chemicals to address risk

management issues arising from chemicals inadvertently present in food at low levels and for which no regulatory recommendations exist

 Following technical level discussions endorsement by the Codex

Committee on Contaminants in Foods, the CAC approved in July 2017, a new work proposal from New Zealand to develop international Guidelines for Risk Analysis of Non Regulated Chemicals Inadvertently present in Food.

Drivers for the new work proposal

 Advances in analytical methods and testing technologies  Supporting a sound, science based risk management approach to

detection and inadvertent presence of chemical not covered by existing standards or guidelines

 Need to promote efficient use of limited national and international scientific

and technical resources to deal with chemicals that are of greatest significance in terms of human health

 Minimise food loss and wastage arising from rejection of food without

adequate scientific evidence/justification

 Promoting uptake of new technologies and sustainable farming practices

to address challenges of climate change and environmental protection

Purpose and scope of the new work

 To promote an internationally harmonised approach to addressing

possible public health and trade issues arising from detections of low levels of chemicals inadvertently present in food and for which no specific standards or guidelines exist

 Chemicals to be covered include but not limited to the following:

 Cleaning agents and surface coating, e.g. quaternary ammonium compounds  Chemicals used to address specific environmental/climate change related issues, e.g.

nitrification and urease inhibitors; and

 Potentially any substance present inadvertently in food with an unknown or

incomplete hazard profile

 Proposed new work excludes:

 Intentional and fraudulent addition of chemicals to foods; and  Chemicals that are already covered in Codex and subject to existing regulatory

requirements

Focus of the new work

 Focus of new work is on chemicals that fall outside the traditional ambit of Codex  Many regulatory authorities already have well established and pragmatic

processes for dealing with chemicals that inadvertently present in food at low levels and for which no specific regulatory limits or guidelines exist

 New work will provide for a harmonised approach to screening, risk assessment

and risk management of chemicals inadvertently present in food

 Establish a decision tree framework to guide national authorities when specific

groups of chemicals are detected at low levels

Current approaches to risk assessment and risk management

 All Governments have a clear responsibility to protect consumer

health;

 International risk assessment bodies established by World Health

Organization(WHO) and Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO) provide expert risk assessment advice and recommendations for managing chemicals in food;

 CAC responsible for establishing international standards, guidelines

and recommendations based on the advice of expert scientific bodies;

 Codex standards are international benchmarks under WTO

Agreements and provide essential guidance to protect health of consumers and promote fair trade.

Current approaches to risk assessment

Threshold of Toxicological Concern( TTC)

 TTC is one of several approaches available for risk assessment of

chemicals (for which there is little if any toxicological data) based

• n analysis of structures and potential human exposures;

 TTC is not a substitute for risk assessment and establishment of

regulatory standards for regulated compounds( e.g. pesticides and food additives)

Other risk assessment methodologies include

 Use of computer modelling such as the OECD Quantitative structure-activity

relationships toolbox(QSAR)

 Read across; and  Margin of exposure approach

Benefits of internationally harmonised approach

 Promoting a science and risk based approach to detection of

non regulated chemicals that may be inadvertently present in food at low levels;

 Promote efficient use of limited global and national resources to

addressing chemicals of public health concern;

 Minimise any unjustified impediments to trade;  Support the global goal of reducing food losses and wastage

through rejection of food without adequate technical justification

 Support initiatives and innovative approaches to dealing with the

challenges of climate change and sustainable farming practices

 Enhance risk communication to consumers and promote

confidence in national regulatory approaches

Summary

 With rapid advances in analytical methods and detection

technologies the potential for detection of small traces of chemicals that may inadvertently enter the food chain has greatly increased;

 Sound science based approaches are critical to address this

emerging issue and assure consumer health protection and minimise trade disruptions

 The international guidelines will be based on global best practices in

terms of risk assessment and risk management of non regulated chemicals inadvertently present in food

 The new work has attracted significant interest among Codex

membership and work well under way

 Expected to be completed by mid 2019