News
27.04.2018 - Foods
European Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) publishes 2016 annual report
In the European Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed, various notifications are published based on Article 50 of the EU General Food Law Regulation (EC) No 178/2002. This system was introduced by the EU to provide European control authorities with relevant information about risks and hazards related to food and feed more quickly and thus enable the authorities to take prompt action to avert health hazards or other serious harm to consumers as a preventative measure.
There are different types of notifications such as:
- Warning notifications
- Information notifications
- Rejections at border controls
To get an overview of the most important potential health hazards or food safety aspects, it is most useful to evaluate the warning notifications in the RASFF annual report.
The following is a summary of the warning notifications from EU countries in 2016:
- 28% of all notifications in RASFF are warning notifications (847 warnings in 2016)
- Among the warning notifications, pathogenic microorganisms are the most common cause (352 out of 847 notifications (42%))
- Other causes for warning notifications include allergens, foreign bodies, mycotoxins, pesticides, histamine, etc.
- Salmonella was the most frequently reported pathogen (170 out of 352 notifications (48%)). Furthermore, contaminated eggs and poultry meat were a major cause of salmonellosis
- Listeria monocytogenes was once again a common cause of warning notifications in 2016. Affected foods included smoked salmon, raw milk cheeses, and meat and sausage products.
- Pathogenic Escherichia coli (including STEC/EHEC) were reported, for example, in cheese and raw sausage
- Noroviruses in live oysters and Campylobacter in poultry meat also triggered several warning notifications
- The "foreign body warning notifications" mostly involved pieces or parts of metal, plastic, glass, and occasionally insects as their causes (106 out of 847 notifications (13%)). Affected foods are often cereal products (cereals, flours), baked goods, convenience foods, fruits and vegetables, as well as milk and dairy products.
- Milk, soy, gluten, nuts, and sulfites accounted for well over half of all allergen-triggered warning notifications. Overall, 107 out of 847 warning notifications were due to allergens (13%)
- Regarding heavy metals, notifications about mercury in swordfish played a dominant role. Lead and cadmium were reported only in rare cases. Overall, they accounted for 10% of the cases (88 out of 847 notifications).
- Mycotoxins were the cause of warning notifications in 6% of the cases (53 out of 847 notifications). The largest share of this was caused by allergens and ochratoxin A. Fumonisins, deoxynivalenol (DON), and citrinin were much less common
A slight increase in warning notifications has been observed in recent years. Detailed information can be found at: ec.europa.eu.
Our customer service representatives are happy to assist you with any questions you may have.