Contaminants in Food

Codex Committee on Contaminants in Food (Host Government - Netherlands)

The Codex Committee on Contaminants in Food (CCCF) establishes and endorses permitted maximum levels or guideline levels for contaminants and naturally occurring toxicants in food and feed.

It also prepares priority lists of contaminants and naturally occurring toxicants for risk assessment by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives.

The CCCF considers methods of analysis and sampling for the determination of contaminants and naturally occurring toxicants in food and feed and develops and elaborates standards or codes of practice for related subjects. It also considers other matters assigned to it by the Commission in relation to contaminants and naturally occurring toxicants in food and feed.

Existing Codex Standards

The 'General Standard for Contaminants and Toxins in Foods' - relating to contaminants in food* - has been endorsed and adopted into the international food code.

For a full list of standards approved by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, please consult its Official List of Standards.

Outcomes from the 34th Codex Alimentarius Commission

The 34th Session of the Commission:

• Adopted at Step 8 the Code of Practice for the Prevention and Reduction of Ethyl Carbamate Contamination in Stone Fruit Distillates
• Adopted at Step 5 the Draft Maximum Levels for Melamine in Foods (Liquid Infant Formula)
• Approved new work on Maximum Levels for Arsenic in Rice

Last Meeting

The 5^th Session of the Codex Committee on Contaminants in Foods was held in The Hague, The Netherlands from 21 – 25 March 2011. 

Matters for Adoption by the Commission

The Committee agreed to forward the:

• Proposed Draft Code of Practice for the Prevention and Reduction of Ethyl Carbamate Contamination in Stone Fruit Distillates (para. 26, Appendix II) at Step 5/8
• Proposed Draft Maximum Levels for Melamine in Food (Liquid Infant Formula) (para. 33, Appendix III) at Step 5/8

Proposals for new work

The Committee agreed to submit to the 34th Codex Alimentarius Commission, through the Executive Committee, the proposals for the following new work on:

• Maximum Levels for Arsenic in Rice (para. 64, Appendix IV)

Matter of interest to the Commission

The Committee:

• agreed to return the Proposed Draft Maximum Levels for DON and its acetylated derivatives in cereals and cereal-based products to Step 2 for redrafting, comments and consideration at its next session
• agreed to return the Proposed Draft Maximum Level for Total Aflatoxin in Dried Figs to Step 2/3 for elaboration of a sampling plan for an ML of 10μg/kg, comments and consideration at its next session
• agreed to defer discussion on editorial amendments to the GSCTFF to the next session
• agreed to continue developing discussion papers on mycotoxins in sorghum, risk management options from different risk asessment outcomes, ochratoxin A in cocoa, and pyrrolizidine alkaloids in foods
• endorsed the Priority List of Contaminants and Naturally Occurring Toxicants for JECFA evaluation and agreed to re-convene the physical working group at its next session to review the Priority List
• agreed to consider maximum levels for lead in various foods in the GSCTFF and the related Code of Practice for the Prevention and Reduction of Lead Contamination in Foods and the Code of Practice for Source Directed Measures to Reduce Contamination of Foods with Chemicals.
  

Download the report from this meeting

Next Meeting

The 6th Session of the Committee is tentatively scheduled to be held in The Netherlands, March 2012.

Download the agenda papers for this meeting