12.07.2019 - Lebensmittel

Health and Food Safety Directorate-General proposes monitoring of Alternaria toxins

On 27.06.19 the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG Sante) presented a proposal to the EU Commission on the monitoring of Alternaria toxins in food.
Alternaria toxins are mould toxins (mycotoxins) that EFSA believes pose health risks. EFSA then carried out an assessment of the exposure of the European population to Alternaria toxins in 2016. It was found that the long-term uptake of the Alternaria toxins Alternariol (AOH), Alternariol monomethylether (AME) and Tenuazonic acid (TeA) is above the toxicologically relevant threshold.

For this reason, the Commission Recommendation now provides for monitoring. For this, guideline values have been set for different food groups:

Food/Toxin	Alternariol AOH) [µg/kg]	Alternariol monomethyl ether (AME) [µg/kg]	Tenuazonic acid (TeA) [µg/kg]
Processed tomato products	10	5	500
paprika powder	---	---	10000
sesame seed	30	30	100
sunflower seeds	30	30	1000
sunflower oil	10	10	100
nuts	---	---	100
Dried figs	---	---	1000
Grain-based foods for infants and young children	5	5	500
Other food	10	10	100

In our Tentamus laboratories we routinely check for Alternaria toxin and other mycotoxins, e.g. aflatoxins and ochratoxin A.
Our customer advisors will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Source: www.lebensmittelverband.de