NZFSA releases results of food testing

NZFSA releases results of food testing

The New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) today released a comprehensive set of results from its most recent monitoring and surveillance programmes, noting that they continue to show that New Zealanders can have confidence in the safety of the food they are eating.

Glen Neal, NZFSA's Assistant Director (New Zealand Standards) said that the results showed that farmers, growers and importers continue to take seriously their legal requirement to supply safe and suitable food. "We're very pleased that the importance of safe food is still clearly recognised by those producing and selling food in New Zealand."

"Despite targeting areas where we believed we were most likely to find residues higher than the regulatory limit, we found just one breach in imported food, and a small number in a wide range of tests of New Zealand foods. None of these represented any risks to health."

NZFSA's testing of imported food included two studies looking into issues of recent consumer concern. The first, related to problems with pet food in the United States, was into possible contamination of vegetable proteins such as wheat gluten and soy and corn meal, and found no residues at all. The second – on aquaculture products from China – found no residue levels of concern.

"After a series of recent pet deaths in the United States, suspected to have been caused by contamination of vegetable proteins used in manufacturing pet food, NZFSA investigated the issue. We found that very little of these products are imported into New Zealand from China. We have tested 15 samples since mid-May and not found any traces of either melamine or cyanuric acid.

"Also following public concerns, we looked at imports of Chinese farmed fish. We tested 31 canned and frozen products including shrimp, eel, prawns, dace, carp, anchovy, roe, and fish balls and other processed product. We found six residues of a class of antimicrobials, known as triphenylmethane dyes, and nine residues (two detects in two samples, both of semicarbazide which can occur naturally) of nitrofuran metabolites. Nitrofurans are a class of antibiotics.

"All of these results – even the highest at 0.058 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg) were well below any level that would pose a health risk. Many of the results were very near to the limit of detection in fact.

"The results we found are similar to those other regulators around the world are finding, and show that the products being sold in New Zealand meet requirements and are safe to consume."

Samples of imported fresh produce were also analysed as part of the regular Food Residues Surveillance Programme (FRSP) and, in general, these results were also pleasing, says Glen Neal.

"The mandarins, green beans and tomatoes tested included some imported produce. One sample of mandarins had a residue that exceeded the MRL. This was for the fungicide imazalil (the residue was 6.1 mg/kg and MRL is 5.0). This product meets the regulatory requirement of the country it was grown in, which does not make it compliant in New Zealand but explains how it might have occurred. Because the international testing protocol is for produce to be tested as bought (in this case including the skin) the level in the mandarin flesh will have been far lower.

"While there were not a large number of samples of imported foods, these results – plus the others we have from more than five years of testing – continue to give us confidence that importers are aware of their legal obligations and the food safety demands of government and consumers."

New Zealand food residue results also reflected a generally very high consciousness of food safety in the dairy industry, with almost 100,000 tests over the 2006/07 season finding all residues to be below the relevant limits for more than 250 compounds, natural toxins and chemical elements.

"The dairy industry adheres to very strict controls and requirements, both for export and domestic markets," notes Glen Neal. "Once again, our monitoring shows that the awareness of requirements, and proper processes and procedures is high, and that good agricultural practice is being followed." Testing of animal products (which include red meat, pigs, broiler chickens, feral animals, farmed animals and ostriches) also revealed few issues.

"As with dairy, a wide range of compounds and contaminants is looked for. Testing is of the tissues of highest accumulation (such as the liver) rather than the food product where levels are likely to be far lower. In almost 4500 tests there were just seven samples that exceeded the New Zealand MRL. These were: one broiler with nicarbazin (an anticoccidial), two pigs with carbadox (an antibiotic), one pig and a lamb with levamisole (an anthelmintic), one pig with flumethrin (a parasiticide) and a bobby calf – that did not enter the food chain – with sulphonamides (an antibiotic). None of these present human health issues.

"Each of these exceptions was investigated and all were found to be farmer error. In the case of the pigs and poultry these were carryover of medicated feed to rations used for animals near slaughter. The mechanical problems were rectified. Suppliers of the non-compliant animals were added to the surveillance list, and subject to enhanced testing."

Results for New Zealand were also as expected, with some problems found. Glean Neal says that the FRSP is specifically targeted at foods where NZFSA believes there might be need for closer scrutiny of the food safety systems.

"The FRSP tests for more than 200 agricultural compounds, and we have recent results for many types of fresh produce. For many (onions, plums, wheat, cabbage, pumpkin, green beans, cauliflower, peaches and raspberries) there were no residues above the relevant MRLs. For other products, there were only a few results slightly above MRLs: the herbicide pendimethalin was found in carrots (0.06 mg/kg (MRL 0.05)). In cucumbers, the insecticide methamidophos (0.33 and 0.26 mg/kg (MRL 0.2) and fungicide iprodione (0.11 mg/kg (MRL 0.10)) were found, and in apricots the insecticide carbaryl was at twice the MRL (6.0 mg/kg (MRL 3.0))."

Celery, spinach and tomatoes proved to more problematic, with an unacceptable number of breaches of the relevant standard. Although NZFSA's risk assessment found that the vegetables would still be safe to eat, it appears that a few growers may not have been taking the care NZFSA expects.

"There were three insecticides found above the MRL in some samples of tomatoes. Bifenthrin (0.11 and 0.18 mg/kg (MRL 0.05)), fluvalinate (0.13, 0.17, 0.23 mg/kg (MRL 0.1)), and methamidophos (0.11 (MRL 0.10)). "Spinach and celery growers have particular issues in New Zealand because their crops are regarded as minor, meaning that there is not a lot grown. Because of this, there are few agricultural compounds that have specific directions for use on them. While appropriate compounds for the pests can still be used, the Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines Act requires that residues comply with the New Zealand (Maximum Residue Limits of Agricultural Compounds) Food Standard of 0.10 mg/kg (even though this level can sometimes be much higher on crops for which there are specific label instructions).

"This 'minor use minor species' situation is clear from the number of residues above the 0.10 mg/kg MRL. Celery had 16 results above the MRL and spinach had 13.

"There were seven compounds above the 0.10 mg/kg limit in celery, with seven residues of the fungicide difenoconazole (0.42, 0.27, 0.25, 0.25, 0.16, 0.13, 0.12 mg/kg), two each the insecticides methamidophos (0.27 and 0.21) and methiocarb (0.26 and 0.18) and two of the fungicide trifloxystrobin (0.24 and 0.12). There was just one residue above the MRL for the insecticides acephate (0.44) and primiphos methyl (0.63).

"Spinach had 11 residues of the fungicide chlorothalonil (5.21, 3.47, 2.39, 1.86, 1.06, 1.06, 0.90, 0.72, 0.18, 0.12 and 0.11 mg/kg). There was also one result above the MRL for each of the insecticides chlorpyrifos (0.15) and methamidophos (3.5 mg/kg)."

Because the season when celery and spinach were tested was unusually wet, there was a greater than normal need to prevent attack from fungus, and this is reflected in the relatively high number of residues of fungicides. The number and levels found is also consistent with the shape of these crops themselves, both presenting 'bowl' shapes with their leaf structure that will collect residues (as well as dust and other environmental detritus).

"There are no health concerns with the levels found of these residues," says Glen Neal. "Our risk assessments show that even big eaters of celery and spinach can be assured of the safety.

"However, the results do indicate that the use of agricultural compounds in these crops needs to be improved, and NZFSA is working with the appropriate industry bodies to institute remedial action. We have already begun providing additional information on the use of chemicals on minor crops, and will be investigating other avenues to ensure that regulatory limits are met. We will be testing these crops again in future seasons to ensure that these steps are working.

"In conclusion, we are delighted that the vast majority of New Zealand food producers and importers have again shown their commitment to ensuring that New Zealand retains its position as having one of the world's lowest residue levels in its food supply. We have identified some problems areas, and we will be concentrating on these areas to ensure the problems do not recur. NZFSA will continue its comprehensive suite of monitoring and control programmes, will continue making these results publicly available, and will develop new programmes to target any areas where new concerns may be identified."

ENDS

BACKGROUND FOR JOURNALISTS The maximum residue limit (MRL) is used as an indicator of how an agricultural compound (such as a pesticide) has been used. It is not a safety limit but rather the level of a chemical residue, usually expressed as 'mg/kg' or 'parts per million' that should not normally be exceeded if accepted agricultural practices are followed. A breach of a MRL does not indicate that a food contains unsafe levels of an agricultural compound, but it may indicate that a grower has not followed Good Agricultural Practice (GAP), which is the generally accepted way of ensuring effective and safe use of agricultural compounds. Where residues are found to be above an MRL, the NZFSA assesses whether there are any safety implications of the residue. This is done by assessing how toxic the chemical is, the level found in the food, and how much of that food is eaten. NZFSA also investigates further to find out what went wrong in the production of the food, and appropriate action is taken if it is fo und necessary. The Food Residues Surveillance Programme (FRSP) sets out to probe specific foods, for example, those that may be problematic because they are susceptible to attack by pests or disease. Therefore, it is more likely to identify problems than a purely random survey chosen from all foods. NZFSA fully expects that, from time-to-time, it will uncover problems that require corrective action. Only when such problems are identified can they be dealt with by regulation, legal action, education or a combination of these.

MRLs for compounds used 'off-label' (ie, where there are no specific instructions for spraying concentrations or withholding periods for that crop) must not exceed an MRL of 0.10 mg/kg. This is the case even though the MRL may be far higher for the crops for which there is a specific 'label claim'. For example, the MRL for the insecticide acephate is 0.1 mg/kg for off-label use (it was found on celery at 0.44 mg/kg).

The MRL for acephate is 1 mg/kg on tomatoes, 2 for broccoli and 5 for lettuce. This demonstrates that an improbably large amount of celery, all with residues above the MRL, would need to be eaten daily for life for there to be any effect – an almost impossible situation.

ENDS

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