EFSA assesses aflatoxin level risks
Friday 2 March 2007
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has today published its assessment of the potential health risks to consumers if new, higher levels of aflatoxins were allowed in the European Union for almonds, hazelnuts and pistachios.
EFSA was asked for its opinion to help inform negotiations aimed at setting internationally agreed limits for aflatoxins in these nuts.
Aflatoxins are a group of toxins formed by certain moulds, which may grow on some foods, particularly in tropical and sub-tropical countries, including peanuts, nuts, dried figs and cereals and spices.
They have been linked to liver cancer in some parts of the world. In the UK and the rest of the European Union there are legal limits to make sure that people take in as little of them as possible.
- The EFSA opinion concludes that increasing the maximum permitted levels of aflatoxins in these three nuts within the proposed range would have only minor effects on the expected total dietary exposure from all sources.
- But it's essential to keep aflatoxin exposure from food sources as low as possible by reducing exposure from the sources that are major contributors to people's total exposure to alflatoxins through their diet, its experts say.
Background
The EFSA assessment was carried out by the authority's expert panel on contaminants in the food chain (CONTAM).
The Authority was asked by the European Commission to carry out the assessment following discussions held in the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC).
The CAC has established a series of food standards and related texts that aim to protect the health of consumers and ensure fair practices in the international trade of food and agricultural products.
The CAC is an intergovernmental food standards programme jointly sponsored by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Membership is open to all Member Nations and Associate Members of FAO/WHO, and is currently comprised of more than 160 countries. International non-governmental organisations, such as consumer, academic or industry bodies, may attend Codex meetings as observers.
The science behind the story
EU maximum levels for ready-to-eat almonds, hazelnuts and pistachios are currently 4 µg/kg total aflatoxins.
At the 2006 CCFAC meeting, a range of limits higher than those in EU legislation was discussed for these three ready-to-eat nuts, but no final decision has been taken. Discussions on appropriate limits will resume in April, when this committee, now known as the Codex Committee on Contaminants in Food (CCCF), will meet again.
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