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AgVetLink: Number 52, October 2005

Food Residue Surveillance Programme – preliminary results

Preliminary results from this year’s Food Residue Surveillance Programme (FRSP) once again indicate a high level of compliance with regulatory standards. The 2004/2005 FRSP tested for a range of 217 agricultural compound residues in seven fruits and vegetables, and two imported animal products.

The plant products chosen were lettuce, pears, strawberries, potatoes, oranges, peanuts and taro; 48 samples of each were tested. This amounts to a large number of possible residue findings, although a realistic estimate of possible food/residue combinations would be lower because only certain agricultural compounds are routinely used on particular crops. In total, 191 residues were detected in the seven crops tested, and three of those residues were above the Maximum Residue Level (MRL).

MRLs

The MRL is a number, usually expressed as ‘mg/kg’ or ‘parts per million’, that should not normally be exceeded if accepted agricultural practices are followed. A breach of an 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. Residues found to be above an MRL are investigated further to find out what went wrong in the production of that food, and appropriate action is taken if necessary.

In addition to the plant products, imported pork and prawns were tested for a range of antibiotic residues. No residues were detected in any of the 50 pork samples. Five of the 48 prawn samples were found to contain barely detectable levels of metabolites of the nitrofuran class of antibiotics. Because those metabolites can also arise from natural sources, the results are only indicative of a possible use of nitrofurans. The findings were at levels too low to have any health significance. None breached MRLs.

Agricultural compounds

Food makes a significant contribution to the New Zealand economy because we export the majority of food that we produce. Depending on the food-producing crop or animal, and the prevalence of pests in the environment, it is often necessary to use agricultural compounds to produce food economically and of a suitable quality for retail sale and export.

Controls are set on the use of these compounds to ensure that exposures are many times lower that those which might cause harm. Examples of controls that can be applied include:

• requiring directions for use to be displayed on labels

• restricting access to trained users (e.g. veterinarians)

• specifying withholding periods between use and harvest.

Compliance programmes

NZFSA and other regulatory authorities have compliance programmes to ensure that agricultural compounds are being used appropriately. The FRSP is an ongoing programme to assess the effectiveness of current controls on the use of agricultural compounds in New Zealand produce, and residues on imported foods. It complements NZFSA’s other monitoring programmes, such as the Animal Products Residue Monitoring Programme, the Dairy Residue Monitoring Programme and the Total Diet Survey.

NZFSA is encouraged by the results of last year’s FRSP as they indicate a high level of compliance with regulations. However, because the FRSP is primarily a tool for gathering information and finding out where there may be problems, NZFSA will now focus its attention on areas where less information is available.

The FRSP sets out to identify specific problems, so it is more likely to identify problems than a purely random survey would. It is therefore likely that future surveys will sometimes show more non-compliant residues than last year’s. Such problems can be dealt with only when they are identified.