New controls coming for chemicals in food

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has proposed new monitoring and risk control measures for naturally occurring substances that can damage human DNA and cause cancer.

Its scientific committee has recommended member states adopt the 'margin of exposure' (MOE) approach to assessing risks associated with such chemicals found naturally in foods, present in the environment and others resulting from food preparation or processes, such as acrylamide. It would not cover substances deliberately added to food and feed at any point in the food chain, including illegal dyes, such as Sudan 1, and pesticides.

The hope is that by providing an estimated level of risk for every substance in the category, those charged with managing food hazards, such as the Food Standards Agency, would be better able to assess and compare different levels of risk.

The European Commission (EC) is now expected to consult across Europe on the use of MOE in food and feed. It will then be up to the EC in conjunction with risk management authorities in each country to decide how the recommendations were applied. But, according to EFSA, the proposals have been generally well received.

In the past, EFSA's advice has been to follow the so-called ALARA 'as low as reasonably achievable' principle for genotoxic and carcinogenic compounds, but this failed to allow distinction between different levels of risk. However, ALARA will still be used for contaminants such as Sudan 1 which are not permitted in food and feed at any level.