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, 21-25 March 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
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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”
3. 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
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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."
4. 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 reestablishment 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:
 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)
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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: http://www.codexalimentarius.net/web/index_en.jsp.
ICGMA contacts:
Shannon Cole, scole@gmaonline.org
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