CODE OF PRACTICE FOR SOURCE DIRECTED MEASURES TO REDUCE CONTAMINATION OF FOODSTUFFS (Agenda Item 13a)
DRAFT MAXIMUM LEVELS FOR LEAD (Agenda Item 13b)
DISCUSSION PAPER ON CADMIUM (Agenda Item 13c)
POSITION PAPER ON ARSENIC (Agenda Item 13d)
POSITION PAPER ON TIN (Agenda Item 13e)
PROPOSALS FOR THE PRIORITY EVALUATION OF FOOD ADDITIVES AND CONTAMINANTS BY JECFA (Agenda Item 14)
92. The 29th CCFAC accepted the offer of Sweden to elaborate the proposed draft Code of Practice for circulation, comment and consideration at the current meeting (ALINORM 97/12A, para. 85). The 22nd Commission Session accepted this proposal as new work (ALINORM 97/37, Appendix IV).
93. The delegation of Sweden presented the proposed draft Code of Practice to the Committee. As comments were not requested on the document prior to its consideration at the current meeting, the Committee agreed to append the draft Code of Practice to its report for circulation and comment at Step 3 (see Appendix XIV).
94. The 22nd Session of the Commission adopted the proposed draft maximum levels for lead at Step 5 (ALINORM 97/37, paras. 115) on the basis of recommendations arising from the 29th CCFAC (ALINORM 97/12A, paras. 68-70).
95. The delegation of Denmark briefly reviewed the comments received. It was pointed out that special attention should be paid to the impact of lead exposure on children and that there was a need for a thorough exposure assessment.
96. Several delegations suggested that the levels for fish could be lowered to 0.2 mg/kg, including a note that this figure applies to fish muscle, and to 0.05 mg/kg for meat on the basis of new data. It was further indicated that the level for fruit juice could be lowered to 0.05 mg/kg. It was also suggested that a level of 0.3 mg/kg should be established for small fruits and berries with edible skin.
97. The Committee agreed that the delegation of Denmark would review the draft maximum levels in light of an appropriate risk assessment for children and the above discussion for circulation, comment and further consideration at the 31st CCFAC.
98. The 29th CCFAC decided to maintain the draft guideline level of 0.1 mg/kg for cereals, pulses and legumes at Step 7. It also accepted the offer of the delegation of Denmark, assisted by France and The Netherlands, to prepare a compilation of existing data on cadmium for discussion at its current meeting (ALINORM 97/12A, paras. 67 and 71).
99. The delegation of Denmark presented the discussion paper, elaborated with the assistance of the delegations of France and The Netherlands. It was pointed out that the JECFA evaluation of cadmium, scheduled in 1999, was postponed until 2000 in order to allow for the submission of data from Japan and other countries.
100. The Committee accepted the offer of Denmark to revise the discussion paper for circulation, comment and consideration at the 31st CCFAC.
101. The 29th CCFAC accepted the offer of Denmark to further progress its position paper on arsenic for circulation, comment and consideration at its current meeting (ALINORM 97/12A, para. 74).
102. The delegation of Denmark presented the revised position paper on Arsenic and drew particular attention to the different arsenic species that occur in food. Future consideration of only the more toxic inorganic forms of arsenic instead of total arsenic was recommended.
103. Some delegations welcomed the suggestion to focus only on the arsenic species of importance. Other delegations felt that total arsenic methods and residue levels were more appropriate, although their use made additional explanations necessary because the use of total arsenic levels easily resulted in overestimations of intake. It was noted that analytical methods for the different species, especially for the organic arsenic species, were not routinely available. The Committee supported further studies on the analytical methodology, the bioavailability of the different arsenic species and their toxicological relevance.
104. The Committee requested Denmark to revise the position paper based on the above discussions and comments submitted for circulation, comment and further discussion at its next meeting.
105. The 29th CCFAC accepted the offer of Australia to further develop the position paper on tin, which had been developed by Australia, Indonesia and Thailand, for consideration at the current meeting (ALINORM 97/12A, para. 80).
106. The delegation of Australia presented the revised position paper on tin and drew particular attention to the recommendation for a limit of 200 mg/kg in liquid canned foods and 250 mg/kg in solid canned foods.
107. Delegations welcomed the revised paper. A number of delegations questioned the technological basis for the levels of tin proposed in the paper. The delegation of Australia explained the need for sacrificial tin coatings for acidic foods and the inadequacy of alternatives, such as lined cans. The Committee agreed to circulate the levels proposed in the paper for comments at step 3 and further consideration at its next meeting (see Appendix XI).
108. Mr. J. Dornseiffen (the Netherlands) introduced the report of the informal Working Group on Priorities for JECFA. The Committee agreed to the priorities proposed by the Working Group except that it deleted those food additives that delegations had proposed but had not given commitments to provide information. The list of priorities agreed by the Committee is provided in Appendix XIII.
109. For intake assessments, the Committee stressed the need for countries and organizations to provide appropriate information to ensure that intakes can be assessed for food additives when used in the food categories under which they are included in the General Standard for Food Additives. The Committee agreed that, if the instructions provided in the call for data for the fifty-first meeting of JECFA are followed, appropriate information would be provided to permit such assessments (see para. 28).
110. The Committee agreed to request additional comments for additions or amendments to its Priority List, preferably well documented and in time, for consideration at the 31st CCFAC.
