The European Commission has revised the inspection levels on various imports, including a decrease in ethylene oxide checks and an increase in pesticide residue inspections. The updated legislation governs the rate of official controls and special conditions for non-animal food and feed imports into Europe, with changes made every six months.
Decisions are based on the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) reports and information from early 2023 documents, identity, and physical inspections by EU countries. For instance, the inspection level for Salmonella in sesame seeds from India has been increased to 30 percent of consignments, while the checks for ethylene oxide have been reduced from 50 percent to 30 percent of shipments.
Checks on peanuts from the U.S. for aflatoxins and vanilla extract controls for pesticide residues remain unchanged at 20 percent. The majority of updates feature pesticide residues with increased oversight on imports from Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, Egypt, and Pakistan, and relaxed controls for mint from Israel.
Source: www.foodsafetynews.com
