Commission Recommendation

of 28 March 2007

on the monitoring of the presence of furan in foodstuffs

(Text with EEA relevance)

(2007/196/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular the second indent of Article 211 thereof,

Whereas:

(1) In May 2004 the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published the results of a survey concerning the presence of furan in products that undergo heat treatment. Furan levels were found in a variety of foodstuffs (e.g. canned and jarred foodstuffs, baby foods, coffee, soups and sauces, etc.).

(2) The Scientific Panel on contaminants in the Food Chain of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) considered those results an urgent issue and compiled a scientific report on furan in food on 7 December 2004.

(3) In this report EFSA concluded that from the presently available data it appears that there is a relatively small difference between possible human exposure and doses in experimental animals that produce carcinogenic effects and that a reliable risk assessment would need further data on both toxicity and exposure.

(4) It is necessary to generate reliable data across the European Community on levels of furan in heat treated foodstuffs in order to enable EFSA to carry out a reliable risk assessment. A special focus should be given on data collection during the years 2007 and 2008. After that, data collection should continue on a routine basis.

(5) Data should be collected on commercial foodstuffs as purchased disregarding any further preparation (e.g. coffee powder, juices, jars and cans not heated before consumption) and commercial foodstuffs analysed as consumed after further preparation in the laboratory (e.g. brewed coffee, canned and jarred products heated before consumption). In the latter case preparation should follow label instructions, if available. Food prepared at home on basis of fresh ingredients (e.g. vegetable soup made with fresh vegetables, home-made Irish stew) should not be subject to this monitoring programme as the effects of home cooking practices on furan levels in foodstuffs could be better explored in a research project.

(6) In order to ensure that samples are representative for the sampled lot, the sampling procedures laid down in Part B of the Annex to Commission Regulation (EC) No 333/2007 of 28 March 2007 laying down the methods of sampling and analysis for the official control of the levels of lead, cadmium, mercury, inorganic tin, 3-MCPD and benzo(a)pyrene in foodstuffs [1] should be followed. The analysis of samples should be carried out in accordance with points 1 and 2 of Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 882/2004 of the European Parliament and the Council of 29 April 2004 on official controls to ensure the verification of compliance with feed and food law, animal health and animal welfare rules [2].

(7) It is important that the analytical results and specific additional information needed for the evaluation of the results are reported on a regular basis to EFSA. The reporting format should be set out by EFSA. The compilation of the data into a database will be ensured by EFSA,

HEREBY RECOMMENDS:

1. That Member States perform during the years 2007 and 2008 monitoring on the presence of furan in foodstuffs that have undergone heat treatment. The monitoring should include commercial foodstuffs as purchased disregarding any further preparation [3] and commercial foodstuffs analysed as consumed after further preparation in the laboratory [4].

2. That Member States provide on a regular basis to EFSA the monitoring data with the information and in the format as set out by EFSA.

3. That Member States follow the sampling procedures as laid down in Part B of the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 333/2007 in order to ensure that samples are representative for the sampled lot. Sample preparation before analysis should be carried out with the necessary care to ensure that the furan content of the sample is not altered.

4. That Member States carry out the analysis of furan in accordance with points 1 and 2 of Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 882/2004.

Done at Brussels, 28 March 2007.

For the Commission

Markos Kyprianou

Member of the Commission

[1] See page 29 of this Official Journal.

[2] OJ L 165, 30.4.2004, p. 1, as corrected by OJ L 191, 28.5.2004, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 1791/2006 (OJ L 363, 20.12.2006, p. 1).

[3] Commercial foodstuffs as purchased disregarding any further preparation: e.g. coffee powder, juices, jars and cans not heated before consumption.

[4] Commercial foodstuffs analysed as consumed after further preparation in the laboratory: e.g. brewed coffee, canned and jarred products heated before consumption. If available, preparation should follow label instructions. Food prepared at home on basis of fresh ingredients (e.g. vegetable soup with fresh vegetables, home-made Irish stew) are not subject of this monitoring programme.

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