Food contact materials recalls and international trade relations: an analysis of the nexus between RASFF notifications and product origin

Comparative study between the top six heavy metals involved in the EU RASFF notifications over the last 23 years

From the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) database, a total of 4728 notifications regarding the six most frequently notified heavy metals (i.e., arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, chromium, and nickel) were tracked from January 1, 2000, to December 31, 2022, and analyzed based on year, notification classification, notifying countries, countries of origin, product types, product categories, risk decision, and action taken. Human risk assessment owing to consumption of mercury- and cadmium-contaminated seafood was estimated as well. Results revealed that the highest numbers of notifications were on mercury (36.6%), cadmium (25.1%), and lead (14.1%). Interestingly, the number of total notifications was at its peak between 2011 and 2014; from 2015 onward, it started to decrease considerably. Alert, border rejection, and information notifications represented 29.6%, 21.9%, and 48.5% of the total notifications, respectively. Chromium and nickel resulted in 33.8% and 23.3% of border rejection notifications, respectively. About 52.0% of the alert notifications were on mercury. Serious notifications represented 34.9% of the total notifications. Mercury and cadmium notifications accounted for 54.9% and 25.8% of serious notifications, respectively. Italy was the most notifying country, recording the highest number of notifications on cadmium (29.0%), mercury (52.6%), chromium (81.0%), and nickel (78.7%). China was the most notified origin country with regards to arsenic (18.7%), cadmium (12.8%), lead (27.6%), chromium (71.2%), and nickel (66.9%) notifications. Notifications on food, food contact materials (FCM), and feed represented 71.9%, 23.4%, and 4.7%, respectively, of the total notifications. About 91.5% of mercury notifications were on fish and fish products; 24.3% of arsenic notifications related to fruits and vegetables; and 20.1% of cadmium notifications corresponded to cephalopods and products thereof. Notified products were largely withdrawn from the markets according to arsenic (20.3%), lead (17.9%), and mercury (18.0%) notifications and re-dispatched because of cadmium (20.5%), chromium (42.1%), and nickel (49.5%) notifications. The target hazard quotient (THQ) values for mercury in swordfish, sharks, and tuna and cadmium in squid were all also below the threshold value of 1, implying that there is no significant risk for consumers. Overall, media coverage of RASFF alerts and actions may raise awareness of heavy metal contamination among the general public and industry professionals. The primary dietary advice of our study is to stay away from species with high mercury contents. Also, identifying the most dangerous heavy metals (HMs) and the most polluting products can help researchers prioritize their efforts in finding sustainable solutions for them.

Leaching behavior and evaluation of zebrafish embryo toxicity of microplastics and phthalates in take-away plastic containers

Take-away containers are the common food contact materials (FCMs) that are widely used in daily life. However, little is known regarding the effects of different food simulants on the pollution characteristics of microplastics derived from food containers, as well as the toxic effects of the chemical substances that are leached from them. Extracts were obtained by adding organic solvents into plastic containers (polypropylene, PP; polystyrene, PS) to simulate aqueous, alcoholic, and fatty environments. The extracted substances and their toxic effects were then assessed by counting and characterizing the resulting microplastics and performing bio-acute toxicity assays. The results demonstrated that the highest abundance of microplastics occurred in PS containers in fatty environments, which was likely due to the rough surface of the PS. In contrast, organic solvents seemed more conducive to the migration of substances. Furthermore, the PP and PS extracts in an alcohol and fatty environment have significant impacts on zebrafish embryo development, including arrhythmia, pericardial cysts, and spinal curvature.

Are deposit-refund systems effective in managing glass packaging? State of the art and future directions in Europe

Glass packaging gives rise to major environmental concerns because it develops more greenhouse gas emissions than plastic packaging and its improper discarding causes the loss of high-quality desired resources. The reuse and recycling of glass packaging reduces greenhouse gas emissions and the use of newly extracted resources sand and soda. To mitigate the environmental impacts of glass packaging, countries have set-up various collection and recycling systems, which are often organized and financed through extended producer responsibility schemes. The most common collection systems are deposit-refund systems (DRS), separate collection in drop-off containers and comingled collection with lightweight packaging waste. By the end of 2035 a minimum of 65 % of glass packaging waste must be prepared for re-use and/or recycled within the EU Member States and thus proper policies and solutions should be adopted to achieve this target. In this sense, the present study aims at verifying if deposit-refund systems and their different configurations affect glass packaging waste reduction and recycling/recovery. To achieve this aim, annual data regarding consumption and recycling/recovery of glass packaging for each European Economic Area/European Free Trade Association (EEA/EFTA) country were extracted over the time period 2010-2019. By using the selected European countries as units of analysis, a hybrid methodology was developed which includes the analysis of variance (ANOVA) and other descriptive statistics. Findings show that the different waste management systems affect neither the amount of glass packaging consumption nor the glass packaging recycling/recovery. In countries which adopt DRS, not more glass packaging per capita was retrieved than in countries which adopt other collection and management systems. In fact, it turns out to be a mechanism that allows for high quality glass packaging collection avoiding its ending up in landfills, but it does not influence consumption choices and the subsequent potential waste production. The adoption of DRS-based collections does not result necessarily in a successful management model for glass packaging. Since setting up additional drop-off collection points and recovering mechanically glass from municipal solid waste (MSW) does not result in glass qualities to be used in glass packaging, DRS represent still the sole progress towards a more circular economy.

The stakeholder's roles in risk management related to food supply chain recalls: a systematic literature review

Purpose

Food supply chains (FSCs) are becoming increasingly complex and vulnerable to recall risks due to quality failures. Measures for supply chain risk management can minimize these recall risks. However, this responsibility must be shared by all stakeholders in the chain. This study aims to analyze the roles of different stakeholders in managing risks in the events of food recalls.

Design/methodology/approach

A systematic literature review was carried out, and 110 articles were explored to identify risk management actions and to link them to the role of stakeholders involved in FSC recall.

Findings

The study found that nine stakeholders were responsible for 25 hazard management actions related to food safety and traceability systems, regulatory and preventive measures, and control and response mechanisms for food recalls in the FSC.

Originality/value

This article contributes to the literature by proposing an explanatory map associating risk management actions to different stakeholders in food recall. The actions were grouped according to whether they were prevention actions to avoid a food recall or contention actions to limit the negative economic effects and maintain the health of the population.

Introducing the Rapid Alert Supply Network Extractor (RASNEX) tool to mine supply chain information from food and feed contamination notifications in Europe

Background

During food or feed contamination events, it is of utmost importance to ensure their rapid resolution to minimize impact on human health, animal health and finances. The existing Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) is used by the European Commission, national competent authorities of member countries and the European Food Safety Authority to report information on any direct or indirect human health risk arising from food or feed, or serious risks to animal health or the environment in relation to feed. Nevertheless, no methods exist to to collectively evaluate this vast source of supply chain information.

Methods

To aid in the extraction, evaluation and visualization of the data in RASFF notifications, we present the Rapid Alert Supply Network Extractor (RASNEX) open-source tool available from https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4322555 freely. Among RASNEX’s functions is the graphical mapping of food and feed supply chain operators implicated in contamination events. RASNEX can be used during ongoing events as a support tool for risk analysis using RASFF notifications as input.

Results

In a first use case, we showcase the functionality of RASNEX with the RASFF notification on a 2017/2018 contamination event in eggs caused by the illegal use of fipronil. The information in this RASFF notification is used to visualize nine different flows of main and related food products. In a second use case, we combine RASFF notifications from different types of food safety hazards (Salmonella spp., fipronil and others) to obtain wider coverage of the visualized egg supply network compared to the first use case. Actors in the egg supply chain were identified mainly for Italy, Poland and Benelux. Other countries (although involved in the egg supply chain) were underrepresented.

Conclusions

We hypothesize that biases may be caused by inconsistent RASFF reporting behaviors by its members. These inconsistencies may be counteracted by implementing standardized decision-making tools to harmonize decisions whether to launch a RASFF notification, in turn resulting in a more uniform future coverage across European food and feed supply chains with RASNEX.

Serious Notifications on Food Contact Materials in the EU RASFF

Serious alert and border rejection notifications on food contact materials (FCM) retrieved from the RASFF database were analyzed for the first time regarding the period 2012–2019. The findings indicate that China was the main transgressor country for both types of notifications. Official controls were responsible for most FCM serious alerts (91.78%), and border rejection (90.82%) notifications. Another novelty proposed herein, is the criterion for “lag phases” (time from sampling to notification dates). Overall percentage distributions of lag phases, for all RASFF Member States, for the intervals of 0–50 days and 51–≥101 days, were 25.09% and 67.87% for serious alert notifications and 65.21% and 29.34% for serious border rejection notifications. Differences in percent shares of lag phase intervals were observed between the top-four notifying countries, indicating a lack of harmonization in timely reporting of serious alert and border rejection notifications for FCM. Migration of primary aromatic amines and of metals were the most frequently notified hazards overall in the period of analysis. A decreasing trend is observed in the two more recent biannual averages of serious alert notifications for primary aromatic amines and metals, while decreasing for metals but increasing for primary aromatic amines in serious border rejection notifications.

Microbiological Hazards in Dry Dog Chews and Feeds

Nowadays, dogs are usually equally treated with other family members. Due to the growing caregivers' awareness, the pet foods industry is changing dynamically. Pet foods are manufactured with a myriad of ingredients. Few authors of scientific papers deal with the topic of foods products' safety for pet animals, assessed from the perspective of their caregivers. Despite the many methods of producing foods of the highest quality, there are still cases of contamination of pet foods and treats. In the case of dried chews for dogs, bacteria of the genus Salmonella are the most common risk. In the case of both dry and wet foods, in addition to many species of bacteria, we often deal with mold fungi and their metabolites, mycotoxins. This article presents selected microbiological risks in dog foods and treats, and analyzes the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) system (2017-2020) for pathogenic microorganisms in dried dog chews, treats and foods. In this period, pet food-related notifications were registered, which were categorized into different types. Analyzing the RASFF notifications over the period, it has been shown that there are still cases of bacterial contamination of dog foods and treats, while in terms of the overall mycotoxin content, these products may appear safe.