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In this section we repeated alert notices from the RASFF system of the European commission issued in the previous month, which we thought to be noteworthy and of interest to our clients.
We will refrain from repeating the numerous reports on all mycotoxin and salmonella limit violations but show only a selection to pinpoint the risks. However, we like to put your attention to the fact that in numerous cases missing allergen information was categorized as serious and caused border rejections too.
You can analyse the RASFF-site conveniently by yourself using several filter options and limit the notification to those which are of direct interest to your business. Link: https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/rasff-window/screen/search
| Chemical Hazards: | Product | Origin |
| Acrylamide | 2.032 µg/kg (750 µg/kg) in potato chips | Latvia |
| Biogenic amines | Exceeded histamine content 362,8 mg/kg until 1243 mg/kg (200 mg/kg) in tuna steaks | Vietnam |
| Histamine 770 mg/kg (400 mg/kg) in anchovy fillets in oil | Peru | |
| Ethylene oxide (EO) / 2-chlorethanol (2-CE) +) | EO 0,65 mg/kg (0,1 mg/kg) in meal replacement | Thailand |
| EO 0,36 mg/kg (0,1 mg/kg) in peppers (spice) | Pakistan | |
| EO 3,4 mg/kg (0,1 mg/kg) in Cayenne pepper | Turkey | |
| Heavy and toxic metals | Cadmium 0,302 mg/kg in Arborio rice | Italy |
| Cadmium 1,48 mg/kg & 1,27 mg/kg (0,8 mg/kg) in dark chocolate (85% cocoa) | Ecuador | |
| Lead 1,4 mg/kg (0,6 mg/kg) in chili flakes | United Kingdom | |
| Mercury 1,5 mg/kg (0,5 mg/kg) in frozen monkfish | Morocco, notified by Spain | |
| Mercury 1,6 mg/kg (0,5 mg/kg) in frozen swordfish | Portugal | |
| Mercury 1,27; 1,25; 0,68 mg/kg (0,5 mg/kg) in frozen fish (Pargo, San Pedro, Rape) | Morocco, notified by Spain | |
| Cadmium 0,33 mg/kg (0,15 mg/kg) in fermented rice powder | China, via Germany | |
| Hydrocyanic acid (prussic acid), cyanides | in golden flax seed | France |
| in almonds (raw material/ingredient) | Netherlands | |
| Mycotoxins | Aflatoxin B1 80,06 & 75,88 µg/kg (!) (2 µg/kg), aflatoxins (total) 93,35 & 86,99 µg/kg (!) (4 µg/kg) in peanuts | China, notified by Poland |
| Aflatoxin B1 6,0 µg/kg (2 µg/kg), Aflatoxin B2 1,1 µg/kg; aflatoxins (total) 7,2 µg/kg (4 µg/kg) in peanuts | Egypt | |
| Aflatoxin B1 261,1 & 218,7 µg/kg (!) (8 µg/kg) Aflatoxins (total) 295 & 238,2 µg/kg (!) (10 µg/kg) in pistacchios | Lebanon | |
| Aflatoxin B1 123,2 µg/kg (!) (8 µg/kg) Aflatoxins (total) 145,8 µg/kg (!) (10 µg/kg) in shelled pistacchios | Iran (2) | |
| Aflatoxin B1 40 µg/kg (5 µg/kg); Aflatoxins (total) 42 µg/kg (10 µg/kg) in nutmeg | Indonesia | |
| Aflatoxin B1 22.6 µg/kg (6 µg/kg); Aflatoxins (total) 46,9 µg/kg (10 µg/kg) in dried figs | Turkey | |
| Aflatoxin B1 3,6 µg/kg (2 µg/kg) in rice | India | |
| Aflatoxin B1 13,3 µg/kg (5 µg/kg) in brown Basmati rice | Pakistan | |
| Aflatoxin B1 15 µg/kg (2 µg/kg); Aflatoxins (total) 17 µg/kg (4 µg/kg) in ground nuts | India | |
| Aflatoxin B1 0,21 µg/kg (0,1 µg/kg) in rice crackers for infants and young children | Belgium | |
| Fumonisins in corn flour-based snack products with raw material from France | Spain | |
| Zearalenone 3000 µg/kg in Mixed Tocopherols (from China) | Belgium | |
| Nitrofurans | Furazolidone (AOZ) 7,8 µg/kg (!!) (0,15 µg/kg) in shrimps | India |
| Furazolidone (AOZ) 1,3 µg/kg (0,15 µg/kg) in shrimps | Vietnam | |
| Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) | Benzo[a]pyrene 7,2 µg/kg; PAH (sum) 27 µg/kg in roasted wheat (freekeh) | Turkey |
| Benzo[a]pyrene 4,1 µg/kg; PAH (sum) 19 µg/kg in sunflower oil | North Macedonia | |
| Pesticides | Linuron 0,12 mg/kg (0,05 mg/kg) in ground cumin | Syria via Lebanon |
| Anthraquinone 0,16 mg/kg (0,01 mg/kg) in Jasmine tea | Indonesia | |
| Acetamiprid 0,94 mg/kg (0,05 mg/kg), Chlorpyrifos+) 0,28 mg/kg (!) (0,01 mg/kg) Imidacloprid 0,12 mg/kg (0,05 mg/kg), Thiophanate methyl 0,22 mg/kg (0,1 mg/kg) in fenugreek leaves +) (Trigonella foenum graecum) | India | |
| Chlorpyrifos +) 0,012 mg/kg (0,004 mg/kg) and fluopyram 0,062 mg/kg (0,004 mg/kg) in soybean oil (Olej sojowy surowy (nierafinowany)) | Ukraine, notified by Poland | |
| Chlorpyrifos +) 0,0427 & 0,12 mg/kg (!) (0,01 mg/kg ) in fennel seeds | Spain | |
| Chlorpyrifos +) 1,7 mg/kg (!!!) (0,01 mg/kg ) in green raisins | Afghanistan | |
| Chlorpyrifos +) 1,1 mg/kg (!!!) (0,01 mg/kg ) in ginger powder | Iran | |
| Chlorpyrifos +) 0,046 mg/kg (0,01 mg/kg) in corn wavers with sea salt | Poland | |
| Pyrrolizidine alkaloids | 1553,4 µg/kg (400 µg/kg) in cumin | Turkey |
| Sudan dyes+) and other unauthorized colorants+) | Orange II 23 µg/kg in curry powder | India |
| Sudan 1 (>2000 µg/kg - ppb); Sudan 3 (26 µg/kg - ppb) in sweet and sour sauce | Russia | |
| Unauthorized colouring agents yellow orange S (E 110) and cochineal red A (E 124) and aflatoxins in roasted red melon seeds | Syria via Netherlands, notified by Germany | |
| Unauthorised use of colour E 171 - titanium dioxide in food supplement | Sweden | |
| Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) +) and Cannabidiol (CBD) +) | Unauthorised novel food ingredient cannabidiol (CBD) in CBD capsules offered online for sale | Netherlands |
| THC and unauthorized novel food ingredient cannabidiol (CBD) in CBD oil | Switzerland | |
| 198,3 mg/kg Tetrahydrocannabinol (delta-9-THC) in hemp flower tea | Germany, notified by Austria | |
| Unauthorised novel ingredient Hexahydrocannabinol (HHC) in fruit jelly | Austria | |
| Unapproved Novel Food Ingredient CBD in Organic Hemp Flavour Oil | Austria | |
| CBD 6.240 µg/kg (!!!) in food supplement distributed via Spain and the Netherlands | unknown, notified by Austria | |
| Tropane alkaloids | Atropin 100,1 µg/kg (!) & 130,7 µg/kg (!) (5 µg/kg) and Scopolamine up to 30,5 µg/kg & 41,8 µg/kg (5 µg/kg) in breads made from teff flour | Spain |
| Scopolamine 21 µg/kg (5 µg/kg) in organic teff flour with raw material from Bulgaria | Germany | |
| Atropin up to 1234,6 µg/kg (!!!) and Scopolamine up to 463,3 µg/kg (!!) in teff flour | Spain |
+) application is prohibited
MRL exceeded: (!) ≥10 times, (!!) ≥50 times, (!!!) ≥ 100 times
| Microbiological Hazards | Product | Origin |
| Campylobacter | in bezos fuet | Spain |
| E.coli | >230 MPN in clams | Italy |
| E.coli EHEC/EPEC/STEC/VTEC | Shigatoxine-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) in frozen veal meat | Netherlands |
| Shigatoxine-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) in goat`s cheese | France, widely distributed in Europe | |
| E. Coli STEC O26:H11 highly pathogenic in fermented raw milk | France | |
| Shiga-toxin producing E. coli, serotype O104 (STEC) and Listeria monocytogenes in frozen dry-aged minced beef | Poland | |
| Listeria monocytogenes | in Nem chua (a fermented pork dish from Vietnamese cuisine) (110 cfu/g) | France |
| in natamycin | China | |
| in pasteurized milk sheep's cheese | France | |
| in organic vegetarian replacement product for animal products | Germany | |
| Salmonella | in tiger nut flour | Burkina Faso notified by Germany |
| Salmonella and E.coli in Japonica clams (Venerupis philippinarum) | Portugal | |
| in spread with ham | Belgium | |
| in whole salmon | Norway | |
| in Tahini paste (2) | Egypt (2) | |
| in sesame seeds | Uganda | |
| in halva | Syria | |
| Norovirus | in oysters (Crassostrea gigas) | France |
| Norovirus genogroup I and II in clams (3) | Italy (3) | |
| Norovirus genogroup I and II in Japanese clams (2) | Portugal (2) | |
| Vibrio cholerae | in shrimps (Pennaeus vannamei) & in Blue Moon Frozen Shrimp | Ecuador (2) |
| Other Hazards | Origin |
| Hygiene failure and sensory check failure of horse meat (2) | Netherlands (2) |
| Mitigation of Cyclo-di-BADGE (2962 µg/kg) in sprats in oil | Latvia, notified by Germany |
| Nematodes (Anisakis spp.) in fresh fish (Merluccius spp.) | Morocco, notified by Spain |
| Nematodes (larvae of Anisakis spp.) in refrigerated hake | France, notified by Spain |
| Unauthorised novel food (Mitragyna speciosa) on Webshop (7 !) | Netherlands (7 !) |
Author: Dr. Frank Mörsberger
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