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Food residues surveillance ‘pleasing situation’

18 October 2005

Analysis of results from the 2004/05 New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) Food Residue Surveillance Programme (FRSP) has again found that New Zealand food producers and importers continue to take seriously their legal requirement to supply safe and suitable food, says NZFSA Executive Director, Dr Andrew McKenzie.

“There were just three findings where regulatory limits for residues were exceeded, none of which posed any risk to human health, despite targeting potential problem areas and screening for more chemical compounds than last year’s FRSP. Forty eight samples of seven different foods were each tested for 217 agricultural compounds, and a further two imported animal products were screened for a range of antibiotic residues.

“This tiny number of findings is a very pleasing situation. Given these results, and those from the four quarters of the Total Diet Survey released over the last 12 months, New Zealanders can be confident that their food is being produced with care.”

The FRSP is an ongoing programme designed to assess the effectiveness of current controls of chemical residues on imported and locally-produced foods, and complements other NZFSA monitoring programmes.

Dr Paul Dansted, Principal Advisor (Chemicals), says that NZFSA looked for traces of 217 agricultural compound residues, up from 195 in the last FRSP, in seven types of local and imported fruits and vegetables, and screened two types of imported animal products for a range of antibiotic residues.

“The plant products were lettuce, pears, strawberries, potatoes, oranges, peanuts and taro, and 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 Limit (MRL).

“It is important to note that the MRL is not a safety limit, but is a 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. Residues found to be above a MRL are investigated further to find out what went wrong in the production of that food, and appropriate action is taken if it is found 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. However, because those metabolites can also arise from natural sources, the results do not prove the use of nitrofurans. The findings were at levels too low to have any health significance. None breached MRLs.

"Because the FRSP sets out to probe specific foods, for example, those that may be problematic because they are susceptible to attack by pests or disease, it is more likely to identify problems than a purely random survey chosen from all foods. We are very pleased with the result of this year's survey, but we fully expect that, from time-to-time, we 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."

In this year’s FRSP there were three instances where residues were higher than the MRL. In each case an assessment of dietary intake was made, and in each case there was no cause for concern because the amount that might have been consumed in a worst case scenario was still well below the Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI).

The samples that had residues above the MRL were one of lettuce and two of strawberries, said Dr Dansted.

“We found the fungicide procymidone in one sample of lettuce at 3.2 mg/kg. There is no procymidone-containing fungicide in New Zealand that is explicitly approved for use on lettuce, but this is a permitted off-label use. However, the residue is above the permitted New Zealand MRL of 1 mg/kg for leafy vegetables and does indicate that, in this case, good agricultural practice was not followed.

“There is no human health issue with this finding and the level, although over the MRL, is well below that needed to produce either short or long term human health effects. An improbably large number of lettuces, each with this residue, would need to be eaten daily for life for there to be any effect. This is extremely unlikely since the other 47 lettuces had no residue in them at all. In addition, the internationally accepted Codex MRL is 5 mg/kg for procymidone in lettuce, five times the New Zealand MRL and much higher than the one result we found.”

The other two results above the MRL in the FRSP were both on strawberries, one for acephate, the other for tolylfluanid.

“The MRL for the insecticide acephate is 0.1 mg/kg, again for off-label use, and one sample was above this at 0.27 mg/kg. While there has been no Codex MRL set for the use of acephate on strawberries, it is set at 1 mg/kg for use on tomatoes, 2 for broccoli and 5 for lettuce.

“Tolylfluanid is a fungicide. Again, there is no MRL set for use on strawberries, but off-label use is permitted with a MRL of 0.1 mg/kg. A residue of 0.34 mg/kg was found. The internationally accepted Codex MRL for tolylfluanid on strawberries is 5 mg/kg.

“Again, an improbably large number of strawberries, each with these residues, would need to be eaten daily for life for there to be any effect – an almost impossible situation,” said Dr Dansted

Dr McKenzie said, “We are working with the appropriate industry groups to educate growers on proper and responsible use of these compounds, particularly for off-label use. We will be monitoring the situation closely and will take more severe action if it is clear that some growers have not taken on board proper practice or are acting irresponsibly.

“In conclusion, we are delighted that the vast majority of New Zealand food producers and manufacturers have proven to be committed to ensuring that New Zealand retains its position as having one of the world’s lowest residue levels in its food supply. NZFSA will continue its comprehensive suite of monitoring and control programmes, and is further developing new programmes to target any areas where concerns may be identified.

“When there is a problem it is likely to be detected either here or by our overseas trading partners, as evidenced by the recent detection by Korea of a pesticide used off-label on a single New Zealand farm. Whether through ignorance or intent, those who do not follow through on their obligation to produce safe and suitable food will be identified and corrective action taken.”

Further results from the Food Residues Surveillance Programme and NZFSA’s other monitoring programmes will be released as they come to hand, with the full year Total Diet Survey report expected to be released in mid-November.

Ends

For further comment contact Dr Paul Dansted, Principal Advisor (Chemicals), 04-463 2536 or 029-200 7486.

For more information contact Gary Bowering, Manager (Communications), 04-463 2532 or 027-443 2550.

Resources available for download from www.nzfsa.govt.nz

• Background to FRSP (http://www.nzfsa.govt.nz/science/research-projects/food-residues-surveillance-programme/index.htm)

• FRSP results

Resources about agricultural compounds in food

(all available at: http://www.nzfsa.govt.nz/consumers/food-safety-topics/chemicals-in-food/residues-in-food/)

• Agricultural Compounds and Food: The standard setting and monitoring process (print resolution diagramme in PDF format)

• Agricultural Compounds in Food – FAQs

• 2003/04 New Zealand Total Diet Survey – all four quarter reports