Posts from the "Chemical Residues" category
AU: Call for submissions on changes to maximum residue limits requirements
Food Standards Australia New Zealand: Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) today called for submissions on a proposal to create an “all other foods†maximum residue limit for some agricultural chemicals. FSANZ Chief Executive Officer Steve McCutcheon said maximum residue limits are currently set for chemicals and specific commodities. “This has created issues for enforcement agencies and producers because low levels of chemicals permitted on one food may be accidentally found on other foods not listed in the Code,†Mr McCutcheon said.
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US: Alliance for food and farming slams “Dirty Dozen†list
Fresh Fruit Portal: A U.S. nonprofit representing farmers has criticized the Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) latest “Dirty Dozen” list, which ranks produce items based on pesticide residues and now claims strawberries are the “most contaminated”. In a release, the Alliance for Food and Farming (AFF) highlighted the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Pesticide Data Program said pesticides did not pose a safety concern for U.S. food.
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Sydney Markets Professional Development Event: Fresh Produce Testing for Food Safety
1 March 2016
The Fresh Produce Safety Centre is running a professional development event to improve understanding and utilisation of fresh produce testing for food safety.
NZ: Consumers should take confidence from handling of 1080 criminal blackmail threat
Ministry for Primary Industries: Domestic and international consumers of New Zealand food should take confidence in the way the criminal blackmail threat to contaminate infant and other formula with 1080 was handled, MPI Director-General Martyn Dunne said today.
“What we saw in response to this threat was multiple government agencies working together with dairy companies and retailers with a common purpose – to protect consumers.†Mr Dunne was commenting following the guilty plea in Auckland High Court today to 2 counts of blackmail.
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CH: Food safety fears spark growing taste for imported fruit among China’s middle class
South China Morning Post: Longstanding fears over food safety standards on the mainland –
including frequent reports of residue left on domestic fruit after the excessive use of pesticides and swelling and ripening agents – have led to a craze among China’s growing middle class for imported prime fruits in recent years.
Avocados shipped in from Mexico were now the fastest increasing item, said Mabel Zhuang, China consultant of the global fresh produce trade organisation, Produce Marketing Association.
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Back up the food safety training with a good book, writes Richard Bennett
There’s a lot of people responsible for grower, packer or processor quality assurance and food safety who are not technically trained in QA and food safety. That’s just a fact of life that reflects the size, structure and necessities of many fresh produce businesses – small, family and tight. It’s also the reason why some QA standards and customers insist on a minimum level of training for the person(s) responsible for managing food safety in the business, with some now also providing the required training.
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Food safety issue or regulatory compliance issue, asks Richard Bennett
Growers are always quick to make the distinction. There’s a big difference between foodborne illness due to microbiological contamination and exceeding the Maximum Residue Limit (MRL) for an agricultural chemical. The smallest traces of a human pathogen can lead to much suffering, even death, but the many-fold human safety buffer built in to the regulatory pesticide limits means that many, many kilograms, if not tonnes, of offending fruit or vegetable would need to be consumed before ill effects from the pesticide are suffered.
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European Commission sets new MRL levels for two disinfectants
The European Commission (EC) has lowered the maximum residue levels (MRLs) for two disinfectants used in the food industry, with the new regulation due to enter into force next year. As a result, the fresh produce trade may need to adjust its current usage practices or explore the use of alternative products.
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Confused by the chemical jargon? Don’t understand the registration process?
Agricultural chemicals, whether they be for conventional production systems, organic production systems or both, must be registered by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) before they can be legally supplied, sold or used in Australia.
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European pesticide residue adherence rates above 97% for third consecutive year
The results of the EU coordinated programme showed that 98.1% of the samples analysed contained residue levels within permissible limits and that 53.4% of samples contained no measurable residues at all. The foods with the highest MRL exceedance rates were spinach (6.5%), beans with pods (4.1%), oranges (2.5%), cucumbers (2.1%) and rice (2%). The foods with the lowest MRL exceedance rates were wheat flour (0.3%) and potatoes (0.6%).
To read the full article and report, please click here
Source : www.efsa.europa.eu
Asparagus by Steve Snodgrass 2011, Some Rights Reserved (CC BY 2.0) https://flic.kr/p/9kC9GL
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