As of July 1, 2002, food and animal feed manufacturers doing business in the European Union (EU) must abide by strict new limits on permitted levels of dioxins or be excluded from the food chain. European Commissioner David Byrne, responsible for Health and Consumer Protection, stressed that the new dioxin limits in food and feed must be implemented vigorously.
“These measures are a key element of the comprehensive strategy of the Commission to improve the safety of feed and food in response to the dioxin contamination problems of the past,” said Byrne. “Very few countries in this world have any binding limits for the presence of dioxin in place. Thus, the EU is paving the way forward to improve public health protection.”
The actions taken in relation to food and feed are part of an overall strategy in the EU to reduce the presence of dioxins and PCBs – polychlorinated biphenyls – in environment, feed, and food.
The regulation for feedstuffs places the following maximum dioxin limits: animal fats for feeds, 2.0 nanograms (ng); fish oil for feed, 6.0 ng; other land animal products (which includes meat and bone meal), 0.75 ng; vegetable protein meals and vegetable oils and acid oils from vegetable oil refining, 0.75 ng; compound feed for animals except fur, fish, and pets, 0.75 ng; and compound feed for fish and pets, 2.25 ng.
The regulations also puts maximum dioxin levels for oils and fats from ruminant animals such as cows and sheep at 3.0 picograms (pg); poultry and farmed game at 2.0 pg; pigs at 1.0 pg; and mixed animal fat at 2.0 pg. Maximum dioxin levels for vegetable oil is set at 0.75 pg and fish oil intended for human consumption is at 2.0 pg.
The regulation mandates that dioxin limits for meat and meat products originating from ruminants be no more than 3.0 pg; poultry and farmed game, 2.0 pg; pigs, 1.0 pg; and liver and derived products, 6.0 pg.
The directive on feed is an amendment to the Council Directive 1999/29/EC on the undesirable substances and products in animal nutrition. The adopted regulation on food is an amendment of the Commission Regulation EC/466/2001 on maximum levels for certain contaminants in foodstuffs. The EU believes both measures fix strict but feasible maximum levels for dioxin in food and feed. The EU Council has conceded some derogation for Finland and Sweden for fish and fish products consumed on the domestic market until 2006.
August 2002 Render