International Council for Grocery Manufacturers Association (ICGMA)

Staff Report

Codex Committee on Contaminants in Foods

The Hague, Netherlands, 21-25 March 2011

The fifth session of the Codex Committee on Contaminants in Foods (CCCF) was held in The Hague, Netherlands, 21-25March 2011. CCCF is the Codex Committee responsible for establishing standards for chemical contaminants in foods. The agenda and ICGMA priority documents included issues relating to toxicants such as DON in cereals, melamine in liquid infant formula, a discussion paper on Risk Management Options on How to Deal with Results from New Risk Assessment Methodologies, and a discussion paper on furan.

The ICGMA Delegation was led by Shannon Cole, GMA. Delegation members were Tom Trautman and Brent Kobielush, General Mills, and Martin Slayne, PepsiCo.

Key Outcomes

The Committee agreed to forward two standards to the Commission for adoption at step 5/8. First was the “Code of Practice for the Prevention and Reduction of Ethyl Carbamate in Stone Fruit Spirits” and second was the “Proposed Draft Maximum Levels for Melamine in Food for Liquid Infant Formula”. The Committee will continue work on the discussion paper on “Guidance for Risk Management Options on How to Deal with the Results from Different Risk Assessment Methodologies” led by the US. ICGMA will continue to participate in this work via an electronic working group. It will also re–establish the electronic Working Group (eWG) to continue collecting data on Ochratoxin A in cocoa, especially with regard to small producers, with the possibility of starting new work on a Code of Practice (COP) in 2012. With regard to natural mineral waters, the Committee agreed that the parameters for substances such as PCBs, PAs and pesticides were quality parameters, and not safety ones. As such, setting limits for these substances was determined to be beyond the remit of the CCCF and will be further discussed at the Commission in 2011.

ICGMA Priority Issues

ICGMA priority issues on the provisional agenda for the meeting are referenced above. The outcomes on these issues are included below:

  1. DON in cereals: The Committee agreed to return the proposed draft Maximum Limits (MLs) for DON to Step 2/3 for further development by the eWG, circulation for comments and further consideration by the next session. The Committee had quite an extensive exchange of views on whether there was a need for further data collection or whether the information was sufficient to establish MLs for DON and/or its acetylated derivatives. The Committee agreed to proceed with the establishment of MLs for DON in cereals and that at the 8th Session of CCCF, would consider the extension of ML to acetylated derivatives. The Committee reconfirmed that MLs for cereals intended for animal feed would not be included. The electronic WG will reconvene, led by Canada, to further continue the work, which will also include development of associated sampling plans. The eWG will also explore the possibility to revise the existing COP and report the result at the next session. Finally, they will ask CCMAS to identify methods for acetylated derivatives in DON.
  2. Melamine: The following proposed ML will be sent to the Codex Commission under the expedited process at Step 5/8: liquid infant formula of 0.15 mg/kg, as consumed, with the attached “Note” below.

“Note: The ML does not apply to liquid infant formula for which it can be proven that the level of melamine higher than 0.15 mg/kg is the consequence of migration from food contact materials taking into account of any nationally authorized migration limit”

  1. Discussion Paper on Risk Management Options: The Committee agreed to re-establish the eWG, led by the US and co-chaired by Netherlands, to prepare a discussion paper for consideration at the next session. The paper should focus on risk management options and not MLs and COPs in light of different risk assessment outcomes. The paper should include two sections: 1) description of different risk assessment outcomes and related uncertainties; and 2) implications of different risk assessment outcomes and description of possible risk management options. It was further clarified that this work was still exploratory and that it did not impact on the current guidance to the Committee as outlined in the Procedural Manual. ICGMA made the following intervention at the meeting:

"The ICGMA welcomes this document and sees it as a great opportunity to further elaborate guidance on risk management options following the completion of risk assessments by JECFA.

As the JECFA secretariat indicates, risk assessment outcomes and tools are growing. Chemical scenarios are becoming more diverse and more complex. This document could add great value, by highlighting different types of risk assessment outcome, and by providing guidance to help future case by case determinations on best approach for risk management for different types of chemical scenarios, for example, avoidable cross-contamination, less avoidable contamination, formation during usual production practices, or natural presence in raw materials. The value would not be for a prescriptive document, but a guidance document to help determine best risk management options case by case.

ICGMA looks forward to contributing to the electronic working group for further development of this paper."

  1. Discussion Paper on Furan: Due to broad consensus that there was insufficient data and research to develop effective solutions for decreasing furan in food, it is premature to develop a COP at this stage. The Committee agreed that this work could be taken up in the future when more adequate data became available and that at that time the re-establishment of the eWG to further develop the discussion paper could be considered.

Other Items of Interest

  1. Revision of Risk Analysis Principles Applied by the CCFA and CCCF (Matters Referred): The Committee agreed to establish a new eWG, led by The Netherlands, to prepare a separate Risk Analysis Principles for contaminants and natural toxins in food and feed. The eWG will also examine whether it is necessary to further specify the applicability to feed in the Principles as well as a COP and also consider any other revision that might be necessary to update the terminology in the Principles for consistency with the current risk assessment terminology.
  2. Halogenated Solvents in Olive Oils (Matters Referred): The Committee concluded that halogenated solvents could be considered as processing aids and therefore did not fall within the remit of CCCF.
  3. Discussion Paper on Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids (PAs): The Committee agreed to re-establish the eWG on PA, led by The Netherlands, to update the discussion paper, in particular to undertake further compilation of existing data and to evaluate the possibility to develop a COP for consideration by the next session of the Committee. The Committee also encouraged members of the eWG to develop more analytical reference standards for PA and to gather more information on the occurrence of PA in food and feed.
  4. JECFA Priority List: The Committee endorsed the following priority list of contaminants and naturally occurring toxicants for JECFA evaluation: 1) 3-MCPD esters; 2) Glycidyl esters; 3) Pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs); 4) Non dioxin-like PCBs
  5. Future Work:
  6. MLs for lead in various foods in the Codex General Standard for Contaminants and Toxins in Food and Feed and the related “Code of Practice for Prevention and Reduction of Lead Contamination in Foods” and the “Code of Practice for Source Directed Measures to Reduce Contamination of Foods with Chemicals” (eWG to be led by the US)

Next Meeting

The next meeting is tentatively scheduled for March 2012 in The Netherlands. The exact venue and date will be determined by the host Government in consultation with the Codex Secretariat.

More information. The official report of the meeting will be available on the Codex Alimentarius website within a few weeks:

ICGMA contacts:

Shannon Cole,

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