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| Report of the U.S. Delegate, Codex Committee on Contaminants in Food,
2nd Session |
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Introduction
The 2nd CCCF met in The Hague, The Netherlands March 31 - April 4, 2008. The meeting was attended by delegations
representing 70 member countries, one member organization, and 19 international organizations.
Matters Referred to the Committee by the Codex Alimentarius Commission and/Or Other Codex Committee/Task Forces
- Proposed texts of provisions for contaminants in the "Relations between Commodity Committees and General Committees"
The Committee was informed that the Secretariat was in the process to provide a draft revision to the "Relations
between Commodity Committees and General Committees" with the view of moving the text on the formats to the
"Format of Codex Committee Standards."
- Strategic Plan 2008-2013 of the Codex Alimentarius
The Committee noted the Activities 1.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.5, 3.3, 4.1, 5.5 of the Strategic Plan 2009-2013, and in
particular noted that the assignments given in relation to the implementation of the Strategic Plan were ongoing
work in the Committee and that committee-specific decision making and priority setting criteria had been
developed and were currently being implemented by the Committee.
- Review of Codex Committee Structure and Mandates of Codex Committees and Task Forces
The Committee agreed that the current duration and interval of meetings of the Committee were appropriate.
- Draft Standard for Bitter Cassava
The Committee agreed to refer this to the in-session Working Group on Priority List to determine the availability
of scientific data to perform the risk assessment of cyanogenic glycosides in cassava by JECFA.
- Matters from the Codex Committee on Natural Mineral Waters (CCNMW)
The Committee endorsed the proposed draft amendments to Section 3.2, "Health-Related Limits for
Certain Substances" of the Codex Standard for Natural Mineral Waters.
- Draft Standard for Live and Raw Bivalve Molluscs (elaborated by the 29th Session of the Codex
Committee on Fish and Fishery Products)
The Committee provisionally endorsed the proposed levels for marine biotoxins, with the recommendation that the
levels would require complete review in the coming few years with the view to revising these levels where necessary,
when more data became available.
Proposed Draft Revision of the Preamble of the Codex General Standard for Contaminants and Toxins in Foods (GSCTF)
The Committee agreed to reconvene an electronic working group, led by the Delegation of the EC, to prepare a revised
draft, including the revision of the food categorization system, for circulation at Step 3 for comments and
consideration by the next session of the Committee. The U.S. will be on the electronic working group.
Draft Maximum Level for 3-MCPD in Liquid Condiments Containing Acid-Hydrolyzed Vegetable Proteins (ACID-HVPs)
(Excluding Naturally Fermented Soy Sauce)
The Committee agreed to forward the draft maximum level of 0.4 mg/kg to the 31st Session of the CAC for adoption
at Step 8. The Delegations of EC, Norway, and Switzerland expressed their reservation to this decision.
Draft Code of Practice for the Reduction of 3-Monochloropropane-1,2-DIOL (3-MCPD) During the Production of
Acid-Hydrolyzed Vegetable Proteins (ACID-HVPs)and Products That Contain ACID-HVPs
The Committee agreed to forward the draft Code to the 31st Session of the CAC for adoption at Step 8.
Proposed Draft Code Of Practice For The Reduction Of Acrylamide In Food
The committee agreed to forward the proposed draft Code to the 31st Session of the CAC for adoption at Step 5.
Proposed Draft Code of Practice for the Reduction of Contamination of Food with Polycyclic Aromatic
Hydrocarbons (PAH) From Smoking and Direct Drying Processes
The Committee agreed to forward the proposed draft Code to the 31st Session of the CAC for adoption at Step 5.
Draft Maximum Level for Ochratoxin A in Wheat, Barley and Rye
The Committee to forward the draft Maximum Level of 5 µg/kg for Ochratoxin A in raw wheat, barley,
and rye to the 31st Session of the CAC for adoption at Step 8. The Delegation of India expressed its
reservation to this decision.
Draft Maximum Level for Total Aflatoxins in Almonds, Hazelnuts and Pistachios "For Further Processing"
Draft Maximum Level for Total Aflatoxins in Almonds, Hazelnuts and Pistachios "Ready-To-Eat"
Discussion Paper on Maximum Levels for Total Aflatoxins in "Ready-To-Eat" Almonds, Hazelnuts and Pistachios
The Committee agreed to forward Maximum Levels of 15 µg/kg total aflatoxins in almonds, hazelnuts, and pistachios
"for further processing" and 10 µg/kg total aflatoxins in "ready-to-eat" almonds, hazelnuts, and
pistachios to the 31st Session of the CAC for adoption at Step 8. The Delegation of Iran expressed its reservation
to the decision for "ready-to-eat" pistachios.
Proposed Draft Sampling Plan for Aflatoxin Contamination in Almonds, Brazil Nuts, Hazelnuts and Pistachios
The Committee agreed to forward the proposed draft sampling plan to the 31st Session of the CAC for adoption at Step 5/8.
Discussion Paper on Aflatoxin Contamination in Brazil Nuts
The Committee agreed to start new work on a draft Maximum Levels for Total Aflatoxins in Brazil Nuts, subject to
approval by the 31st Session of the CAC and that an electronic Working Group, led by Brazil, prepare a document
on proposed draft Maximum Levels for Total Aflatoxins in Brazil Nuts for comments at Step 3 and consideration at
Step 4 at the next session of the Committee. The U.S. will be on the electronic Working Group.
Draft Code of Practice for the Prevention and Reduction of Aflatoxin Contamination in Dried Figs
The Committee agreed to forward the draft Code to the 31st Session of the CAC for adoption at Step 5/8.
Discussion Paper on Ochratoxin A (OTA) in Coffee
The Committee agreed to start new work on a proposed draft Code of Practice for the Prevention and Reduction of
Ochratoxin A Contamination in Coffee, subject to approval by the 31st Session of the CAC and that an electronic
Working Group, led by Brazil, prepare a draft Code for comments at Step 3 and consideration at Step 4 at the
next session of the Committee. The U.S. will be on the electronic Working Group.
Discussion Paper on Ochratoxin A (OTA) in Cocoa
The Committee agreed to suspend the consideration of this matter with the understanding to re-consider ochratoxin
A contamination in cocoa in light of new data available in the near future.
Priority List of Contaminants and Naturally Occurring Toxicants Proposed For Evaluation by JECFA
The 2nd CCCF endorsed the priority list of contaminants and naturally occurring toxicants for JECFA evaluation,
as amended below.
- DON, Furan, Perchlorate - The Committee agreed to maintain the high prioritization for DON, furan, and perchlorate for evaluation by JECFA. With regard to DON, the Committee noted that occurrence data from ongoing surveys would be made available by the end of 2008 and that some data had already been submitted to the GEMS/Food data base.
- Phenyl hydrazine - The Committee agreed to remove phenyl hydrazine from the current priority list as this substance was of low priority and the dossier was not up-to-date.
- 3-MCPD - The Committee agreed to include fatty acid esters of 3-MCPD in the priority list, but not to assign a high priority due to the fact that there were currently only limited data available and kinetic studies and collection of exposure data were still ongoing.
- Fumonisins - The Committee endorsed the recommendation of the working group and agreed to establish an electronic working group, led by Brazil, to prepare a discussion paper which should include an overview of available data and scope of the problem of fumonisin contamination for consideration at its next session. The electronic working group should take into account the previous discussion paper prepared at the 32nd Session of the Committee on Food Additives and Contaminants.
- Benzene - The Committee considered problems related to the formation of benzene in soft drinks and noted that guidance on the mitigation of benzene formation was already available to the soft drink industry. The Committee agreed to establish an electronic working group, led by Nigeria, to prepare a discussion paper with a view to clarifying the state of knowledge and the extent of the problem.
- Cyanogenic glycosides - The Committee agreed to establish an electronic working group, led by Australia, to prepare a discussion paper which should include an overview of available data on cyanogenic glycoside with a view for possible re-evaluation by JECFA.
- Mycotoxins in sorghum - The Committee recalled that a discussion paper had previously been prepared on the issue of mycotoxins in sorghum and that at that time only Japan had submitted occurrence data. It was noted that occurrence data from one or only a few countries would not be sufficient for an evaluation by JECFA. The Delegation of Tunisia indicated that it had also submitted data and more data from other countries were available. The Committee agreed to establish an electronic working group, led by Tunisia, to update the discussion paper.
Other Business and Future Work
- Differences between primary and processed products in relation to the use of concentration factors in concentrated and re-diluted products
The Delegation of Morocco stated that maximum levels for pesticides and contaminants developed in Codex were mainly related to primary products and that maximum levels for corresponding processed foods that are concentrated and re-diluted needed to be considered in certain cases. The Committee agreed that consideration of this issue may be given in the framework of the revision of the Preamble of the GSCTF and, therefore, requested the electronic Working Group on Revision of the Preamble of the GSCTF to consider this matter.
- Ethyl Carbamate in alcoholic beverages
In response to the proposal by the Delegation of Germany to discuss ethyl carbamate in alcoholic beverages, the Committee recalled that this matter had been discussed at the last session of the Committee and that the 64th JECFA concluded that health risks for the general population were low and that only sub-populations consuming a high quantity of specific alcoholic beverages might be exposed to certain health risk. The Committee agreed that the Delegation of Germany would prepare a discussion paper for consideration at the next session of the Committee.
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Last Modified:
April 25, 2008 |
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