Food Toxicants Analysis (eBook)

Techniques, Strategies and Developments

Yolanda Pico (Herausgeber)

eBook Download: EPUB

2007 | 1. Auflage
786 Seiten
Elsevier Science (Verlag)
978-0-08-046801-3 (ISBN)

Infos

Food Toxicants Analysis covers different aspects from the field of analytical food toxicology including emerging analytical techniques and applications to detect food allergens, genetically modified organisms, and novel ingredients (including those of functional foods). Focus will be on natural toxins in food plants and animals, cancer modulating substances, microbial toxins in foods (algal, fungal, and bacterial) and all groups of contaminants (i.e., pesticides), persistent organic pollutants, metals, packaging materials, hormones and animal drug residues. The first section describes the current status of the regulatory framework, including the key principles of the EU food law, food safety, and the main mechanisms of enforcement. The second section addresses validation and quality assurance in food toxicants analysis and comprises a general discussion on the use of risk analysis in establishing priorities, the selection and quality control of available analytical techniques. The third section addresses new issues in food toxicant analysis including food allergens and genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The fourth section covers the analysis of organic food toxicants.

* step-by-step guide to the use of food analysis techniques
* eighteen chapters covering emerging fields in food toxicants analysis
* assesses the latest techniques in the field of inorganic analysis

Inhalt

Cover 1
Copyright Page 5
Table of Contents 8
Preface 6
Contributor contact details 22
Part 1: Regulations 26
Chapter 1 The international regulation of chemical toxicants in food: Codex Alimentarius 26
1. General principles of Codex Alimentarius 26
2. Operation of Codex Alimentarius 27
3. Decision making and enforcement mechanisms in Codex Alimentarius 29
4. Codex standard for contaminants and toxins in foods Codex Stan 193-1995 (Rev.1-1997) 29
4.1. Scope 29
4.2. Definition of terms 29
4.2.1. Contaminant 29
4.2.2. Natural toxins 30
4.2.3. Maximum level 30
4.3. General principles regarding contaminants in food 30
4.3.1. General 30
4.3.2. Principles for establishing maximum levels (MLs) in foods and feeds 31
4.3.3. Specific criteria 31
4.4. Codex procedure for establishing standards for contaminants in food 31
4.4.1. Procedure for preliminary discussion about contaminants in the CCFAC 31
4.4.2. Procedure for risk management decisions in the CCFAC regarding contaminants 31
4.5. Format of the standard for contaminants in food 32
4.5.1. Types of presentation for the standards 32
4.5.2. Food categorization system 32
4.5.3. Description of the food categorization system of the GSC 32
4.6. Review and revision of the standard 33
4.7. Other codex standards and guidelines regarding contaminants in food 33
References 35
Chapter 2 Different legislations on toxicants in foodstuffs 36
1. Food toxicants and Food safety 36
1.1. Nature of toxicants 36
1.2. Occurrence and control of toxicants along the food chain 36
2. European Union 37
2.1. The EU White Paper on Food Safety 38
2.2. Food toxicants as addressed in the “new” EU food hygiene legislation and related legal texts 40
2.3. Legal texts dealing with specific substances with possible or factual adverse health effects 43
2.3.1. Toxins of bacterial origin 43
2.3.2. Contaminants, residues, food additives and substances formed during food processing 44
2.4. Legal requirements for detection methods 47
3. USA 48
3.1. Historical aspects 48
3.2. Organizational framework 49
3.3. Principles of food safety 50
3.4. Specific legislation 51
4. Mercosur legislation 52
5. Asia-Pacific Region 54
6. Concluding Remarks 54
References 55
Part 2. Risk and Quality Assurance 58
Chapter 3 Risk assessment of food additives and contaminants 58
1. Risk assessment procedures 58
1.1. The need for risk assessments 58
1.2. Hazard identification and characterisation 59
1.2.1. Use of animal tests 59
1.2.2. Use of epidemiology data 61
1.2.3. Use of other data 61
1.2.4. Dose considerations 62
1.3. Exposure assessment 62
1.4. Risk characterization 63
1.4.1. The issue of carcinogens 64
1.5. Methods for evaluating the risk from ‘data poor’ additives and contaminants 65
1.6. Regulation of food additives and contaminants 67
1.7. Overall conclusions on the risk assessment process 67
2. The case of Sunset Yellow 68
2.1. Food dyes and their regulation 68
2.2. Sunset Yellow FCF 69
2.2.1. Hazard identification and charcterisation- animal findings 70
2.2.2. Human data 71
2.2.3. Assessment of intake 71
2.3. Consideration of Sudan1 - a contaminant of Sunset Yellow 72
2.3.1. Sudan 1. Hazard identification and characterization. 72
2.3.2. Sudan 1. Risk characterization 73
3. Future food risk assessment 74
3.1. Societal trends 74
3.2. The future challenge for risk assessment 75
3.3. Training needs 75
4. References 75
Chapter 4 Quality Assurance 78
1. Introduction 78
1.1. European Union - Food control Directives 78
1.2. Codex Alimentarius commission 81
2. Accreditation 82
3. Internal quality control: harmonised guidelines for internal quality control in analytical chemistry laboratories 83
3.1. Basic concepts 83
3.2. Scope of the guidelines 85
3.3. Internal quality control and uncertainty 85
3.4. Recommendations in the guidelines 86
4. Proficiency testing 88
4.1. What is proficiency testing? 88
4.2. Why proficiency testing is important? 89
4.3. ISO/IUPAC/AOAC INTERNATIONAL harmonised protocol for proficiency testing of (chemical) analytical laboratories 89
4.3.1. Organisation of proficiency testing schemes 89
5. Methods of analysis 93
5.1. AOAC International (AOACI) 94
5.2. The European Union 94
5.3. The Codex Alimentarius Commission 94
5.3.1. Principles for the establishment of Codex methods of analysis 95
5.4. European Committee for Standardization (CEN) 96
5.5. Requirements of official bodies for methods of analysis 97
5.6. Collaborative trials 98
5.6.1. What is a collaborative trial? 98
5.6.2. IUPAC/ISO/AOAC INTERNATIONAL harmonisation protocol 98
5.6.3. The components that make up a collaborative trial 99
5.7. Assessment of the acceptability of the precision characteristics of a method of analysis 101
5.8. Summary requirements for a collaborative trial 102
6. Harmonised guidelines for single-laboratory validation of methods of analysis 103
7. Recovery factors: development of an internationally agreed protocol for the use of recovery factors 103
7.1. Sources of error in analytical chemistry 105
7.2. International guidelines 106
7.3. Recommendations 106
8. Measurement uncertainty 106
9. Conclusions 107
References 107
Annex I: Methods of analysis being developed or published by the European Committee for standardisation (CEN) in areas of relevance to this text 109
Annex II: Codex guidelines on measurement uncertainty 113
References 114
Part 3. Molecular Biology Techniques 116
Chapter 5 Immunoassays 116
1. Overview of immunoassays 116
1.1. Advantages of immunoassays 116
1.2. Disadvantages of immunoassays 118
2. Principles of immunoassay 123
3. Development of immunoassay for food contaminants 124
3.1. Hapten synthesis 124
3.2. Selection of spacer arms and the point of attachment 126
3.3. Coupling procedures to carrier protein, enzyme and antibodies 129
3.3.1. Carboxylic groups - Mixed function anhydride 129
3.3.2. Carboxylic groups - Carbodiimide 130
3.3.3. Carboxylic groups - N-hydroxysuccinimide 131
3.3.4. Miscellaneous carboxylic methods 132
3.3.5. Hydroxyl groups 134
3.3.6. Amines 135
3.3.7. Carbonyl, phenols and thiol groups 138
3.3.8. Bifunctional reagents 140
3.4. Antibody production 140
3.4.1. Polyclonal antibodies 141
3.4.2. Monoclonal antibodies 142
3.4.3. Recombinant antibodies 142
3.5. Immunoassay formats 143
3.5.1. Immobilization 146
3.5.2. Antibody characterization 148
3.5.3. Sensitivity and limit of detection 150
3.5.4. Specificity 151
3.5.5. Matrix effects 152
3.5.6. Assay accuracy 154
3.5.7. Assay precision 156
3.5.8. Quality assurance and quality control 157
3.5.9. Reagent stability 158
4. Conclusion 158
References 160
Chapter 6 Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) 172
1. Introduction 172
2. Qualitative PCR 174
2.1. Multiplex PCR 174
2.2. Nested PCR 175
2.3. Reverse transcription PCR 176
3. Quantification with PCR 177
3.1. Quantitative conventional PCR techniques 177
3.1.1. Relative quantitative PCR 177
3.1.2. Absolute quantitative PCR 178
3.1.3. PCR with clamping 178
3.2. Quantitative PCR based on the “real-time PCR” system 180
3.2.1. SYBR® Green I chemistry 180
3.2.2. TAMRA quenched TaqMan probes 181
3.3. Other types of probes 185
4. High-throughput genotyping with PCR 186
4.1. Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) of PCR-amplified fragments 186
4.2. Other genetic markers 187
4.3. Array systems 187
4.4. New trends in genotyping 187
4.4.1. Micro total analytical systems (µTAS) 187
4.4.2. Single molecule PCR 188
4.4.3. Immobilized PCR and DNA colonies 188
4.4.4. GOOD assay 188
4.4.5. Arrayed primer Extension (APEX) 188
4.4.6. Fluorescent amplified fragment length polymorphism (FAFLP) 189
5. Analysis of toxicants 189
5.1. Food allergens 190
5.2. Mycotoxins and bacterial toxins 194
5.2.1. Fungal contaminants 195
5.2.2. Bacterial contaminants 197
5.3. Identification of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) 202
6. Predictive toxicogenomics 203
7. Conclusions and future trends 206
Acknowledgements 209
References 209
Chapter 7 Analysis of food allergens. Practical applications 214
1. Introduction 214
2. Methods for the detection of allergens 219
2.1. RAST/EAST inhibition 219
2.2. Immunoblotting 219
2.3. Rocket immuno-electrophoresis 220
2.4. ELISA 220
2.5. Dipsticks 222
2.6. Biosensors 222
2.7. PCR 223
2.8. Cell response factor release assay 225
2.9. Proteomics 226
3. A selection of food allergens and their detection 227
3.1. Peanuts 227
3.1.1. Characteristics of peanut allergy 227
3.1.2. Peanut allergenic proteins 227
3.1.3. Peanut detection methods 227
3.1.4. Comparisons/validation of commercial peanut detection kits 230
3.2. Milk and dairy products 232
3.2.1. Characteristics of milk allergy 232
3.2.2. Milk allergenic proteins 232
3.2.3. Milk detection methods 233
3.3. Eggs and egg products 235
3.3.1. Characteristics of egg allergy 235
3.3.2. Egg allergens 235
3.3.3. Egg detection methods 236
3.4. Crustaceans 237
3.4.1. Characteristics of crustacean allergy 237
3.4.2. Crustacean allergens 237
3.4.3. Crustacean detection methods 238
3.5. Fish 238
3.5.1. Characteristics of fish allergy 238
3.5.2. Fish allergens 239
3.5.3. Fish detection methods 239
3.6. Conclusion 240
4. Case studies 240
5. Summary and Outlook 241
References 243
Chapter 8 Sampling, detection, identification and quantification of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) 256
1. Introduction 256
1.1. Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) 256
1.2. GMOs on the world market 258
1.3. The analytical procedure 260
1.4. Analyte relationships and associated characteristics 262
2. Sampling 263
3. Analyte purification 265
4. Characterising GMOs 268
4.1. DNA sequence based characterisation 268
4.2. RNA based characterisation 269
4.3. Protein based characterisation 270
4.4. Metabolite based characterisation 270
5. Detecting GMO derived analytes 271
5.1. Establishing the GM quantity 271
5.2. The unit of measurement and expression of GM content 274
5.3. Protein based detection methods 274
5.4. RNA based detection methods 275
5.5. Metabolite based detection methods 275
5.6. DNA based detection methods 276
5.6.1. Target specificity 276
5.6.2. Technologies applied to DNA based GMO detection 279
5.6.3. Qualitative detection methods 280
5.6.4. Quantitative detection methods 281
5.7. Detection and quantification limits 284
5.8. Reference materials 285
5.9. Method validation and performance reliability 286
6. Concluding remarks 288
References 289
Part 4. Screening and Chromatographic Methods 294
Chapter 9 Extraction procedures 294
1. Introduction 294
2. Analyte extraction from liquid foodstuff 294
2.1. Liquid-liquid extraction 294
2.2. Solid-phase extraction 296
2.3. Techniques based on sorptive extraction 299
2.3.1. Solid-phase microextraction 300
2.3.2. Stir-bar sorptive extraction 302
2.4. Supported liquid membranes 303
3. Analyte extraction from solid foodstuff 304
3.1. Soxhlet extraction 305
3.2. Liquid-phase extraction 305
3.3. Supercritical fluid extraction 306
3.4. Microwave-assisted extraction 309
3.5. Pressurized Liquid Extraction 311
3.6. Matrix solid-phase dispersion 313
References 317
Chapter 10 Clean-up and fractionation methods 324
1. Introduction 324
2. Nature of interferences 325
3. Methods based on partitioning 329
3.1. Conventional liquid-liquid partitioning 329
3.2. Ion-pair partitioning 331
3.3. Other liquid-liquid partitioning approaches 332
4. Methods based on chromatography 333
4.1. Adsorption chromatography clean-up 334
4.2. Partition chromatography clean-up 336
4.3. Ion-exchange chromatography clean-up 339
4.4. Size-exclusion chromatography clean-up 342
4.5. Clean-up based on molecular recognition 344
4.5.1. Immuno-based clean-up 344
4.5.2. Molecular imprinting clean-up 352
5. Co-distillation/forced volatilisation methods 358
6. Precipitation clean-up methods 359
7. Chemical clean-up methods 361
8. Final remarks 362
References 363
Chapter 11 Automated clean up techniques 374
1. Introduction 374
1.1. Scope 374
1.2. Reasons for clean up in food analysis 375
1.3. Rational of automated clean up 379
1.3.1. Reasons to automate clean up 379
1.3.2. Reasons not to automate clean up 380
1.3.3. To automate or not? 380
1.3.4. Relative backwardness of automation in food toxicant analysis 381
2. Approaches for automated clean up: off-line vs on-line 382
3. Automated off-line clean up approaches 384
3.1. SFE and PLE 384
3.2. GPC 387
3.3. SPE 389
3.4. HPLC 393
4. On-line clean up approaches 397
4.1. Clean up coupled to GC 397
4.1.1. Headspace techniques 397
4.1.2. Automated combined extraction/clean up with GC analysis 399
4.1.3. Automated membrane based clean up 401
4.1.4. Automated clean up in the GC inlet 403
4.1.5. SPE-GC 405
4.1.6. GPC-GC 405
4.1.7. LC-GC 408
4.1.8. LCxGC 411
4.1.9. GC-GC 411
4.1.10. Comprehensive GCxGC 411
4.2. Clean up coupled to LC 415
4.2.1. Combined extraction/clean up coupled to LC 415
4.2.2. SPE-HPLC 418
4.2.3. LC-LC (column switching) 435
4.2.4. LCxLC 435
5. Concluding remarks 436
References 437
Chapter 12 Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) 444
1. Introduction 444
2. Matrix effects 445
3. Sample introduction 451
3.1. Split/splitless injection 452
3.2. Cold on-column (COC) injection 453
3.3. Programmable temperature vaporisation injection (PTV) 454
3.4. Direct Sample Introduction (DSI) / Difficult matrix introduction (DMI) 457
3.5. Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) 459
4. Gas chromatographic separation 459
4.1. Fast GC 461
4.1.1. Practical approaches to fast GC analysis 462
4.1.2. Instrumental requirements in fast GC 465
4.2. Multidimensional high-resolution GC 469
4.3. Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GCxGC) 471
4.3.1. GCxGC set-up 471
4.3.2. Optimisation of operation conditions and instrumental requirements in GCxGC 471
4.3.3. Application of GCxGC, examples of merits 475
5. Mass spectrometric detection 479
5.1. Ionisation techniques 479
5.1.1. Electron ionisation(EI) 479
5.1.2. Chemical ionisation(CI) 480
5.2. Mass analysers 481
5.2.1. Quadrupole instruments 482
5.2.2. Ion-trap instruments 482
5.2.3. Time-of-flight instruments 484
5.2.4. Double-focusing magnetic sector instruments 484
5.3. Tandem Mass Spectrometry 485
6. Applications of GC–MS to food toxicants analysis 488
6.1. Pesticides 488
6.2. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) 489
6.3. Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDDs/PCDFs), dioxine-like polychlorinated biphenyls, and dioxine-like PCBs 490
6.4. Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) 491
6.5. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) 494
6.6. Mycotoxins 495
6.7. Veterinary drug residues 495
6.8. Acrylamide 495
6.9. Chloropropanols 496
References 496
Chapter 13 Liquid chromatography with conventional detection 500
1. Introduction 500
2. Separation modes for food toxicant analysis 501
3. Detection systems 501
3.1. UV/VIS-detection 501
3.2. Fluorescence detection 511
3.3. Electrochemical detection 520
3.4. On-line combination of multiple detectors 524
4. Conclusion 524
References 526
Chapter 14 Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry 534
1. Introduction 534
2. Liquid chromatographic separation 535
3. Interfacing systems 543
3.1. Matrix effects 548
4. Mass analyzers 553
4.1. Single quadrupole 553
4.2. Time-of-flight 556
4.3. Tandem mass analyzers 560
4.3.1. Triple quadrupole 560
4.3.2. Quadrupole ion-trap 564
4.3.3. Hybrid quadrupole time-of-flight 568
5. Applications 570
5.1. Pesticide residues 570
5.2. Veterinary drugs 571
5.3. Food packaging migrating products 573
5.4. Mycotoxins 573
5.5. Algae and fish toxins 574
5.6. Heat induced decomposition products 574
5.7. Food Additives 575
5.8. Toxic food constituents 576
6. Conclusions and future trends 576
References 577
Chapter 15 Capillary electrophoresis 586
1. Introduction 586
2. Principles of capillary electrophoresis 586
2.1. The driving force in the capillary: the electroosmotic flow (EOF) 588
2.2. Theory of zone electrophoresis for charged colloids and molecules 590
2.3. The most important techniques in brief 591
2.3.1. Capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) 591
2.3.2. Micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC) 592
2.3.3. Chiral CZE and chiral MEKC 593
2.3.4. Capillary gel electrophoresis (CGE) 594
2.3.5. Capillary electrochromatography (CEC) 594
3. Application of capillary electrophoresis in food analysis 595
3.1. CZE methods for food contaminants and components 596
3.1.1. Veterinary drugs 596
3.1.2. Pesticides 600
3.1.3. Biological origin toxins 600
3.1.4. Inorganic ions and low molecular weight acids 605
3.1.5. Amines and amino acids 606
3.1.6. Phenolic compouns and vitamins 608
3.1.7. Carbohydrates 609
3.1.8. Proteins 609
3.2. MEKC methods for food contaminants and components 611
3.2.1. Pesticides and toxins 611
3.2.2. Amino acids, additives and proteins 612
3.3. Chiral CZE and chiral MEKC methods for food contaminants and components 613
3.3.1. Pesticides 613
3.3.2. Low molecular weight acids 616
3.4. CGE methods for food contaminants and components 616
3.5. CEC methods for food contaminants and components 617
4.Conclusion and future trends 617
References 618
Chapter 16 Sensor, biosensors and MIP based sensors 624
1. Introduction 624
2. Chemosensor and Biosensors: Basis and fundamentals 626
3. Chemosensors 630
3.1. pH sensors 630
3.2. Electronic noses 631
3.3. Electronic tongues 633
4. Biosensors 635
4.1. Transduction elements in food biosensors 636
4.2. Recognition element classification and biosensors for food toxicant analysis 640
4.2.1. Enzyme biosensors 640
4.2.2. Immunosensors 642
4.2.3. Microbial Biosensors 647
4.3. Commercial instrumentation and future perspectives 647
5. Biomimics: Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) 648
5.1. Development and application of MIP-based sensors 648
5.2. MIPs in preparation/preconcentration and separative applications 651
5.3. Development and application of MIP-based sensors 652
5.4. Future trends 652
References 655
Chapter 17 Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy 662
1. Introduction 662
2. Theory of atomic absorption spectroscopy 662
3. Atomic absorption spectrophotometers 663
4. Interferences 664
4.1. Spectral Interferences (Background absorption) 665
4.1.1. Instrumental Background Correction 665
4.2. Non-Spectral Interferences 665
4.2.1. Nonspectral Interferences in Flame 666
4.2.2. Non-spectral Interferences in ETAAS 667
5. Miscellaneous Sample Introduction Systems 669
5.1. Solid sampling 669
5.2. Slurry sampling 670
6. Determination of Toxic Metals 671
6.1. Some Toxic Elements And Their Properties 673
6.2. Sample Mineralization and Mineral Analysis in Foods 675
6.2.1. Ash, Decomposition/Digestion Procedures 676
6.2.2. Dry Ashing 677
6.2.3. Wet Ashing 678
6.2.4. Low Temperature Plasma Ashing 678
6.2.5. Microwave Digestion 679
References 686
Chapter 18 Electrochemical stripping analysis of trace and ultra-trace concentrations of toxic metals and metalloids in foods and beverages 692
1. Introduction 692
2. Principles of Electrochemical Stripping Analysis 693
2.1. Stripping Voltammetry 693
2.1.1. Anodic Stripping Voltammetry 694
2.1.2. Cathodic Stripping Voltammetry 697
2.1.3. Adsorptive Cathodic Stripping Voltammetry 699
2.2. Stripping Potentiometric Analysis 702
2.2.1. Potentiometric Stripping Analysis 702
2.2.2. Constant Current Stripping Analysis 704
2.2.3. Adsorptive Constant Current Stripping Analysis 704
3. Analytical Applications of Stripping Analysis to Foods and Beverages 705
3.1. Animal Tissues, Fruits, Vegetables and Non-Dairy Products 706
3.2. Sugar 711
3.3. Milk, and Milk Products 712
3.4. Fruit Juice and Soft Drink 712
3.5. Alcoholic Beverages 713
3.6. Other Food Related Materials 715
4. Interferences in Stripping Analysis 716
5. Conclusions and Future Trends 718
References 719
Chapter 19 Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) 722
1. Introduction 722
2. Description of the technique 723
2.1. Principles of ICP-MS 723
2.2. Instrumentation 728
2.2.1. Quadrupoles 729
2.2.2. Sector field analysers 733
2.2.3. TOF analysers 734
2.3. Sample introduction 735
2.4. Interferences 742
2.5. Comparison with other atomic spectrometric techniques 749
3. Analysis of toxic elements and elemental species in food 750
3.1. Element determination 750
3.1.1. Sample treatment 750
3.1.2. Applications 752
3.2. Hyphenated techniques for element speciation 756
3.2.1. Hyphenated techniques for element speciation 756
3.2.2. Sample treatment 758
3.2.3. Applications 760
4. Conclusions and future trends 768
References 769
Index 778

Textauszug

Chapter 1

The international regulation of chemical toxicants in food. Codex Alimentarius

Maria Varadi    Central Food Research Institute, Herman Ottó u. 15., Budapest 1022, Hungary

1 General principles of Codex Alimentarius

The Codex Alimentarius Commission is the international body established in 1962 by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to implement the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme. The Statutes of the Codex Alimentarius Commission have been approved by the Governing bodies of the FAO and WHO, it is a subsidiary body of these two parent organizations.

The aim of the Food Standards Programme is to protect the health of consumers and to ensure fair practices in the food trade, to promote coordination of all food standards work undertaken by international governmental and non-governmental organizations, to determine priorities and initiate and guide the preparation of draft standards through and with the aid of appropriate organizations, to finalize standards, and, after acceptance by governments, publish them in a Codex Alimentarius either as regional or world-wide standards, to amend published standards, after appropriate survey in the light of developments.

The Codex Alimentarius (Latin, meaning Food Law or Code) is a collection of international food standards, codes of practice, guidelines and other recommendations in a uniform manner. It is a reference point for facilitating international trade and resolving trade disputes in international law. It includes standards for all the principal foods, whether processed or raw. Materials for further processing into foods are included to the extent necessary to achieve the purposes of the Codex Alimentarius. It contains provisions relating to the hygienic and nutritional quality of food, microbiological norms, provisions for food additives, pesticide residues, contaminants, labelling and presentations, and methods of analysis and sampling.

The food standards, guidelines and other recommendations of Codex Alimentarius shall be based on the principle of sound scientific analysis and evidence, involving a thorough review of all relevant information in order that the standards assure the quality and safety of the food supply.

Creating Codex documents, the international trade agreements are taken into consideration. They are presumed to meet the requirements of the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) and Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT). Both the SPS and TBT Agreements acknowledge the importance of harmonizing standards internationally so as to minimize or eliminate the risk of sanitary, phytosanitary and other technical standards becoming barriers to trade. With a view to harmonization in food safety, the SPS Agreement has identified and chosen the standards, guidelines and recommendations established by the Codex Alimentarius Commission for food additives, veterinary drug and pesticide residues, contaminants, methods of analysis and sampling, and codes and guidelines of hygienic practice.

2 Operation of Codex Alimentarius

The Codex Alimentarius Commission is responsible for making proposals and consulting with the Directors-General of the FAO and WHO on all matters pertaining to the implementation of the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme.

The Commission normally meets every year, alternately at FAO headquarters in Rome and at WHO headquarters in Geneva. Between sessions, the Executive Committee acts as the Executive organ of the Commission. In the Executive Committee an adequate representation is ensured by the various geographical areas of the world to which the Members of the Commission belong. Membership of the Commission is open to all Member Nations and Associate Members of FAO and WHO, which are interested in international food standards. Non-Governmental Organizations can also participate in the work of the Codex Alimentarius in order to ensure expert information, advice and to harmonize intersectoral interest among the various sectoral bodies concerned in a country, and to represent the public opinion.

The Commission is empowered to establish two kinds of subsidiary body: the Coordinating Committees and Codex Committees. Coordinating Committees for regions or groups of countries coordinate food standards activities in the region, including the development of regional standards.

Codex Committees, including General Subject Committees and Commodity Committees, are responsible for initiating, preparing, discussing and elaborating the standards, guidelines, etc. General Subject Committees are sometimes called as horizontal committees, because they develop all-embracing concepts and principles applying to foods in general, specific foods or groups of foods, endorse or review relevant provisions in Codex commodity standards. These Committees also develop standards, codes of practice or other guidelines for either general application or in specific cases where the development of a complete commodity standard is not required and set maximum limits for additives and contaminants. The Committee on Pesticide Residues and the Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods prepare MRLs for these two categories of chemicals used in agricultural production.

The Commodity Committees, so-called vertical Committees, are responsible for developing standards for specific foods or classes of food. (E.g. Committee on Fats and Oils, on Fish and Fishery Products, on Milk and Milk Products, on Fresh Fruits and Vegetables, on Processed Fruits and Vegetables etc.). Codex Commodity standards contain sections on hygiene, labelling and methods of analysis and sampling. Provisions of Codex General Standards, Codes or Guidelines are incorporated into Codex Commodity Standards by reference unless there is a need for doing otherwise. In this case the responsible Committees need to endorse deviations from the general provisions. It should be fully justified and supported by available scientific evidence and other relevant information.

Because the Commission realized that its rather inflexible committee structure was not able to cope with the demand for standards and guidelines across an ever-widening range of subjects established a third type of subsidiary body called ad hoc Intergovernmental Task Forces. They exist for a fixed period of time with very limited terms of reference. (E.g. Task Force on Food Derived from Biotechnology, 1999-2003, 2005-2009).

The work of the Codex Alimentarius is supported by FAO/WHO expert bodies and expert meetings and consultations, which are independent of the Commission. The experts invited to participate, are pre-eminent in their specialty, have the highest respect of their scientific peers, and they are impartial and indisputably objective in their judgement. Experts contribute in their own capacity and not on behalf of a government or institution.

Two such groups, the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) and the Joint FAO/WHO Meetings on Pesticide Residues (JMPR), have for many years produced internationally acclaimed data. JECFA was established to consider chemical, toxicological and other aspects of contaminants and residues of veterinary drugs in foods for human consumption. The Codex Committee on Food Additives and Contaminants (CCFAC) and the Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods (CCRVD) identify food additives, contaminants and veterinary drug residues that should receive priority evaluation and refer them to JECFA for assessment before incorporating them into Codex standards. JMPR recommends maximum residue limits (MRLs) for pesticide and environmental contaminants in specific food products to ensure the safety of foods containing residues. Methods of analysis and sampling are also recommended by JMPR. The Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues (CCPR) identifies those substances requiring priority evaluation. After JMPR evaluation, CCPR discusses the recommended MRLs and forwards them to the Commission for adoption as Codex MRLs.

In 2000 JEMRA, the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meetings on Microbiological Risk Assessment, began its work. JEMRA aims to optimize the use of microbiological risk assessment as the scientific basis for risk management decisions that address microbiological hazards in foods.

Codex encourages other scientifically based intergovernmental organizations to contribute to the joint FAO/WHO work. E.g. the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), the International Standardization Office (ISO), provide advices for different Codex Committees.

3 Decision making and enforcement mechanisms in Codex Alimentarius

Most standards take a number of years to develop. The Codex standards process consists of eight steps. Before a decision is made for developing a new standard or other text, first at a Committee level a discussion paper, then a project proposal is prepared which is discussed by the Committee. At step 1 the project proposal is critically reviewed by the Executive Committee taking into consideration the criteria and priorities established by the Commission. At steps 2-3 a draft is prepared and circulated to member countries and all interested parties for comments. At step 4 the draft and the comments are discussed at Committee level. At step 5 the Commission makes a decision that the draft should go to finalization. Then the draft is also endorsed by the relevant General Subject Committees. At steps 6-7 the draft is sent again to governments and interested parties for comment and is finalized by the relevant Committee. Then it is submitted to the Commission...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 7.2.2007
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Medizin / Pharmazie ► Gesundheitsfachberufe
• Themenwelt: Studium ► 2. Studienabschnitt (Klinik) ► Pharmakologie / Toxikologie
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Biologie ► Biochemie
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Chemie ► Analytische Chemie
• Themenwelt: Technik ► Lebensmitteltechnologie
• ISBN-10: 0-08-046801-2 / 0080468012
• ISBN-13: 978-0-08-046801-3 / 9780080468013