Call for continuous collection of chemical contaminants occurrence data in food and feed
Background
In the framework of Articles 23 and 33 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 EFSA has received from the European Commission a mandate (M-2010-0374) to collect all available data on the occurrence of chemical contaminants in food and feed. These data are used in EFSA’s scientific opinions and reports on contaminants in food and feed.
Submission of data
National food authorities, research institutions, academia, food business operators and other stakeholders are invited to submit data on occurrence of contaminants with a focus on the substances and related substances listed below. This list is not exhaustive: the full list of contaminants that can be reported and their corresponding codes are published with this call in the file ‘Contaminants_PARAM.xlsx’.
Priority list of chemical contaminants to support scientific opinions in progress
Contaminants | Deadline for data submission* |
Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) in feed for honeybees | 31-May-21 |
Nitrosamines in food | 30-Jun-21 |
Mineral oil hydrocarbons in food | 30-Jun-21 |
Brominated Flame Retardants in food (TBBPA, Brominated Phenols and their derivatives, and Emerging and Novel BFRs) | 01-Oct-21 |
Grayanotoxins in certain honey | 01-Oct-21 |
Polychlorinated naphthalenes in food and feed | 01-Oct-21 |
Fluoride in food | 01-Oct-21 |
*Corresponds to the date where EFSA’s exposure assessors will extract the data to start the risk assessment. Data received after the indicated dates is unlikely to be considered in the ongoing scientific opinions but will be retained in the database for possible future scientific assessments.
List of chemical contaminants
Process Contaminants
- Furan, 2-methylfuran, 3-methylfuran, 2,5-dimethylfuran, 2-ethylfuran and 2-pentyfuran
- Acrylamide
- PAHs
- 3-MCPD, 3-MCPD esters, 2-MCPD esters and glycidyl esters
- Ethyl Carbamate
Organic contaminants
- Dioxins and PCBs
- Non dioxin-like PCBs
- Brominated Flame Retardants
- PFAS
- Chlorinated Paraffins
- Melamine and analogues
- Benzene
- Perchlorate
Inorganic
- Cadmium
- Lead
- Arsenic (inorganic and total)
- Mercury (methyl mercury and total mercury)
- Fluorine in feed
- Nitrates and Nitrites
- Inorganic tin
- Aluminium
- Nickel
Mycotoxins
- Aflatoxins (B1 in feed, B1, B2, G1 and G2 and Total in food, M1 in dairy)
- Ochratoxin A
- Deoxynivalenol (and acetylated derivatives and DON-3-glucoside)
- Zearalenone and modified forms
- Fumonisins and modified forms
- Alternaria toxins (alternariol, alternariol monomethyl ether, tenuazonic acid, tentoxin)
- Patulin
- T-2 and HT-2 and modified forms
- Nivalenol and modified forms
- Ergot sclerotia
- Ergot alkaloids
- Enniatins
- Sterigmatocystin
- Beauvericin
- Citrinin
- Moniliformin
- Diacetoxyscirpenol
- Phomopsins
Plant toxins
- Opium alkaloids
- Quinolizidine alkaloids
- Pyrrolizidine alkaloids
- Glucosinolates
- Glyco-alkaloids
- Tropane alkaloids
- Hydrocyanic acid
- Erucic acid
- Tetrahydrocannabinol
- Specific for feed
- Free Gossypol
- Theobromine
- Ricin
- Abrin
- Crotin I
Organochlorine compounds specific for feed
- Aldrin
- Dieldrin
- Camphechlor
- Chlordane
- DDT
- Endosulfan
- Endrin
- Heptachlor
- Hexachlorobenzene (HCB)
- Hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH-alpha, beta and gamma isomers)
How to submit data
Data must be submitted in electronic format (XML) to the EFSA Data Collection Framework (DCF) https://dcf.efsa.europa.eu/dcf-war/dc. User credentials are required to access the DCF web interface, please contact data.collection [at] efsa.europa.eu (data[dot]collection[at]efsa[dot]europa[dot]eu) to obtain the credentials.
EFSA will only accept data in SSD2 (Standard Sample Description version 2) format. In case data are compiled manually using the EFSA tools available at https://zenodo.org/record/3941939#.YCKRnzGSnIU the XML file must be generated for direct submission to the DCF. A short video describing how to send data to EFSA is available here. The guidance ‘Chemical monitoring reporting Guidance: 2021 data collection’ should also be consulted for reporting requirements and is available at https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/supporting/pub/en-6420
The annual major release of the catalogues (31/01/2021) and SSD2 structural metadata can be downloaded from https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.779880 Guidance on the installation and use of the EFSA Catalogue browser can be found at http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/supporting/pub/en-1726
The DCF will open for the 2021 chemical monitoring data collection, which also includes contaminants, from 15 April 2021 to 1 October 2021.
The communication below is not applicable to Member State competent authorities.
Please note that all confidentiality requests within the frame of this call for data must be submitted separately via email to EFSA to DATA.Admin [at] efsa.europa.eu. The ground or legal basis for the confidentiality request and the justification must be provided as well as the name of the field/(s) for which a confidentiality request is made. Failure to submit the requested information will prevent EFSA from assessing the confidentiality request. As a consequence, all information submitted to EFSA will be made available to the public by EFSA in accordance with the provisions of Article 38(1).
Contact details
Please address any technical enquiries regarding the reporting of data to data.collection [at] efsa.europa.eu (data[dot]collection[at]efsa[dot]europa[dot]eu)
(last updated on 2 August 2021)