8 June 2004

Latest monitoring programme results reaffirm low residue levels in New Zealand food

Following from last month’s release of results from a number of New Zealand Food Safety Authority residue monitoring programmes, the most recent results reconfirm that New Zealand’s food supply is among the very lowest in residue prevalence in the world.

Results released today are from the first part of a new pilot programme, the Food Residue Surveillance Programme (FRSP). This will be an ongoing programme to assess the effectiveness of current controls of chemical residues on imported and locally-produced foods, and complements and surveys the existing monitoring programmes already in place.

“Once more, the news is extremely good,” said Dr Andrew McKenzie, NZFSA Executive Director. “Of the analyses being done as part of this pilot, the first multi-residue screen has been completed, with other investigations to follow over the next few months.

“We looked for residues from 195 pesticides in lettuce, potato, tomato, broccoli, grapes and wine, completing 33,441 analyses in all. Just three had residues above the Maximum Residue Level (MRL). Two were slightly above the MRL, and one significantly. Only 88 of the samples tested, or 0.3%, had any residues at all. As analytical science evolves and allows us to detect ever smaller amounts of residue, we are becoming more even more certain that our food supply is exemplary.

“We noted that the last set of results we released indicated 99.9934% of results met or bettered the regulatory agricultural compound residue requirements. This new set of results represents a ‘pass mark’ of 99.99%. Cumulatively, from a total of 150,781 analyses to date, there have been just 12 results of concern, giving a total of 99.9920%.

Dr Paul Dansted, Senior Adviser (Technical Policy) says that the areas of concern have already been investigated and dealt with appropriately.

“We found iprodione in two samples of banana, one at 0.11 mg/kg and one at 0.45 mg/kg. Because we don’t grow bananas in New Zealand, we have no formal MRL set for this fungicide on bananas and therefore the New Zealand default Maximum Residue Limit of 0.1mg/kg applies.

“We have investigated this and found that there is no public health concern. The analyses were carried out following internationally-accepted Codex Alimentarius guidelines, meaning that the skin as well as the flesh was tested. In real life, the skin is not eaten, and this is where almost all the residue will be.

“The residue levels we found are within the limits set by overseas countries for bananas. For example, the UK has a MRL of 3 mg/kg for iprodione on bananas, and this is more than six times the highest level found in the bananas we sampled. The likelihood of any risk to human health is extremely low.”

Of the 12 banana samples, the other 10 had no detectable residues for any of the 195 compounds tested for.

Dr Dansted says that New Zealand’s approach to how it deals with agricultural compound residues in imported food is being examined as part of NZFSA’s current work programme.

"Some international residue limits have been set by Codex and other limits have been established in the NZ residue limit setting process. It is not cost effective for NZ to set residue limits for all foods that could be potentially imported because of the range of agricultural chemicals, veterinary drugs, climate and pest combinations experienced in different exporting countries. The presence of a residue that exceeds the New Zealand MRLs is not unexpected in imported foods where residue limits have not been specifically catered for and set, and therefore the low New Zealand default of 0.1 mg/kg automatically applies.

"When residues are found in imported foods above Codex or domestic food MRLs – and a risk assessment shows no human health risks – importers and countries of export are written to and issues followed up depending on the circumstances. Additional action (such as compliance monitoring) may be taken. NZFSA is considering how legislation could be amended to better cater for residues in imported food and policy is being developed on this."

The other result above the MRL in the FRSP was for methamidiphos in lettuce.

“The MRL for this insecticide is 0.5 mg/kg, and one sample was slightly above this at 0.64 mg/kg. The other 25 lettuce samples showed no detectable residues for any of the compounds.

“There is no human health issue with this finding, and the level, although over the MRL, is well below that needed to produce either short or long term human health effects. An improbably large number of lettuces, each with this residue, would need to be eaten daily for there to be any effect. This is extremely unlikely since the other 25 lettuces had no residue in them at all. In addition, many countries have a MRL of 1 mg/kg for methamidiphos in lettuce, twice the New Zealand MRL and higher than the one result we found.

“There is no label claim for the use of methamidiphos in lettuce, but it is a permitted off-label use and is likely to have been used to control a recent outbreak of lettuce aphid. However, the residue above the permitted New Zealand MRL does indicate that, in this one case, good agricultural practice was not followed.

“We are working with the appropriate industry groups to educate growers on proper use of methamidiphos and approved controls for the lettuce aphid pest. The recent approval of other compounds for the control of this new lettuce pest means that growers now have alternative control measure and may not need to use methamidiphos in the future. We will be monitoring the situation closely and will take more severe action if it is clear that some growers have not taken on board proper practice,” said Dr Dansted.

Dr McKenzie said, “In conclusion, we are delighted that the vast majority of New Zealand food producers and manufacturers have proven to be committed to ensuring that New Zealand retains its position as having one of the world’s lowest residue levels in its food supply. NZFSA will continue its comprehensive suite of monitoring and control programmes, and is further developing new programmes to target any areas where concerns may be identified.”

Further results from the Food Residues Surveillance Programme and NZFSA’s other monitoring programmes will be released throughout the year as they come to hand.

ENDS

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