Piacenza, October 14, 2011 "Innovating Food, Innovating the Law" Conference ALDO PRANDINI (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Italy) The identification of potentially emerging food safety issues: an analysis of reports published by the European Community’s Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) Video: http://vimeo.com/31452234

1. The identification of potentially emerging food safety issues: an analysis of reports published by the European Community's Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) A. PRANDINI S. SIGOLO ISTITUTO DI SCIENZE DEGLI ALIMENTI E DELLA NUTRIZIONE – U.C.S.C.

3. WHAT IS THE RASFF? A rapid alert system, established as a network, for the notification of a direct or indirect risk to human health deriving from food or feed.

4. THE SCOPE OF THE RASFF The purpose of the RASFF is to provide the control authorities with an effective tool for exchange of information on measures taken to ensure food safety.

6. MEMBER STATES Austria Belgium Bulgaria Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Latvia Liechstenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland United kingdom

7. MEMBER EUROPEAN COMMISSION EUROPEAN FOOD SAFETY AUTORITY EFTA SURVEILLANCE AUTHORITY

8. MARKET NOTIFICATIONS Alert notification It is sent when a food or a feed presenting a serious risk is on the market or when rapid action is required. Information notification It concerns a food or a feed on the market of the notifying country for which a risk has been identified that does not require rapid action

9. MARKET NOTIFICATIONS Border rejection notification It concerns a food or a feed that was refused entry into the Community for reason of a risk to human or animal health. News It concerns any type of information related to the safety of food or feed which has not been communicated as an alert, information or border rejection notification, but which is judged interesting for the food and feed control authorities in the Member States.

10. An original notification sent by a member of the RASFF network can be rejected from transmission through the RASFF, after evaluation by the Commission, if the criteria for notification are not met or if the information transmitted is insufficient. The notifying country is informed of the intention not to transmit the information through the RASFF and is invited to provide additional information allowing the rejection to be reconsidered by the Commission. MARKET NOTIFICATIONS

11. RASFF INFORMATION FLOW

12. RASFF PORTAL DATABASE Since the launch of the RASFF portal (mid 2009) there have been no more subscriptions to the weekly notifications as these are now uploaded into the portal as and when they arrive.

14. ANNUAL REPORT 2010

16. (border rejection) (official control on the market)

17. ANNUAL REPORT 2010

18. ANNUAL REPORT 2010

20. (nuts and snack) (fruit and vegetables) (fish)

21. MAIN HAZARD BY PRODUCT CATEGORY (RASFF 2010) Product category Hazard N° notifications Details Nuts and snack Mycotoxins 486 471 for aflatoxins Fish Microbiological contaminations 140 Heavy metals 116 Parasitic infestations 91 Fruit and vegetables Pesticide residues 225 Microbiological contaminations 31 11 for moulds Food contact materials Migration 214

22. Product category Hazard N° notifications Details Herbs and spices Mycotoxins 125 120 for aflatoxins 5 for ochratoxin A Microbiological contaminations 38 27 for Salmonella Pesticide residues 38 Feed Microbiological hazards 131 20 for Salmonella Mycotoxins 23 Chemical contaminations 12 11 for dioxins and dioxin-like compounds Meat products (excluded poultry) Microbiological contaminations 89 67 for Salmonella

23. CASE STUDY MELAMINE An industrial chemical used in plastics, glues, etc…, rich in nitrogen (C 3 H 6 N 6 ) An important case of feed contamination in 2007 concerned the presence of melamine in pet food and protein-rich ingredients ( 15 notifications ).

24. MELAMINE CHRONOSTORY (2007-2010) 2007 From February 2007 Unusual sickness and death of pet animals (cats and dogs) in the United States. Problem origin: wheat gluten originating from China and used for production of pet food. Precautionary action: recall of pet food in which the wheat gluten was used. Early April 2007 Cause: fraudulent addition of melamine to wheat gluten imported from China.

25. Later (2007) Melamine and cyanuric acid, a compound structurally related to melamine, were also found in rice protein concentrate imported from China. Melamine levels: in wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate were in the range 0.2-8%. Fraud aim: to enhance the apparent protein content of wheat gluten and other protein sources. Consequences: animal health problems due to the combination of melamine and cyanuric acid forming crystals in the kydney of animals.

26. RASFF ACTIONS (2007) 20 March 2007: melamine contamination incident was reported as an unknown hazard. In April 2007: the contamination with melamine was confirmed. 20 and 27 April 2007: Member States were requested to increase their alertness during the meeting of the Standing Committee (section Animal Nutrition) and Working Group meeting on the RASFF. 2 May 2007: Member States have been formally asked by the Commission to check consignments of wheat gluten, corn gluten, corn meal, soy protein, rice bran and rice protein concentrate originating from third countries, in particular from China, for the presence of melamine and related compounds and to report the results to the Commission through the RASFF.

27. EFSA ACTIONS (2007) 8 May 2007: request of EFSA opinion by the Commission on the risks for animal health and public health associated to melamine and related compounds. 8 June 2007: EFSA issued a statement on this topic (available at http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/doc/1047.pdf ).

29. Standing Commitee meeting on the Food Chain and Animal Health (section Animal Nutrition) 22 October 2007 Taking into account the results of the controls, the conclusions of the scientific statement issued by EFSA and the measures taken and commitment by the Chinese authorities, there was no longer a need to maintain an increased frequency of import controls.

30. 2008 15 September 2008: Commission services issued a news notification on deaths of babies in China following poisoning of the infant formulae with melamine. 24 September 2008: EFSA issued a scientific statement in order to assess the risks related to the presence of melamine in composite products containing milk ingredients such as chocolate and biscuit (imports of milk and milk products originating from China have never been allowed into the Community but composite product containing milk ingredients are imported from China). Only in the case of high daily consumption of biscuits and chocolates containing high levels of contaminated milk powder from China, the TDI would be exceeded and a health risk could exist.

31. 1 - 2.5 mg melamine/kg was established as the appropriate level to distinguish between the unavoidable background presence of melamine (from food contact materials, pesticide use, etc.) and unacceptable adulteration. 14 October 2008: Commission Decision 2008/798/EC imposing special conditions governing the import of products containing milk and milk products originating in or consigned from China and repealing Commission Decision 2008/757/EC was adopted.

37. Sbatti il mostro in prima pagina ma almeno con le idee chiare! (Bentley, 2009)

38. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!