Limit values in food and feed

As well as established food safety concerns such as hormones in meat, salmonella and listeria, the more recent food scares of BSE, the Belgian dioxin crisis of 1999 and Foot and Mouth disease have continued to focus attention on the risks involved in food production.  In response, governments are acting to monitor all points on the food chain for the presence of contaminants such as dioxins.

The European Union is the first jurisdiction in the world to set maximum limits for dioxin and dioxin-like chemicals that are applied at various parts of the food chain, including feed and feed ingredients (for information from the EU click here).  The objective of the measures being taken, are to reduce exposure of the Europian population to acceptable levels.

The setting of limit values for feed and food is having a significant impact on all food and feed sectors.  Meeting the dioxins limit values is now a legal compliance matter.  Food that does not meet the limit values is regarded as unfit for human consumption and feed that does not meet the limit values may not be used.  Monitoring of the food chain from “farm to fork” is increasingly being undertaken with emphasis earlier on in the food chain, in materials such as feed ingredients.

New legislation to come into force will disallow the blending of materials that exceed the maximum limit values.