Sunday 27 July 2008

Chemical safety

test tubes

Determining safe levels of the naturally-occurring or deliberately-added chemicals in food which are potentially harmful to health.

Contaminants and additives
Supplements
Risk assessment
The Agency's role
Chemicals present in food

Contaminants and additives

There are many potentially harmful or toxic chemicals present in the food we eat, whether occurring naturally, as contaminants, or as deliberate additives. But these chemicals are not necessarily harmful in small amounts; the effects they have depend upon the amounts that we consume.

Supplements

Some people choose to take supplements which are thought to have beneficial effects. Supplements include vitamins and essential minerals, which our bodies need in small amounts, as well as other chemicals for which there is less evidence of beneficial effects. But in most cases, we receive adequate amounts of these chemicals from food and all of them may be harmful if taken in excessive amounts.

Risk assessment

To determine safe levels of chemicals in food, it is necessary to review all the information on the types of harmful effect that the chemicals might have and then to decide on the amounts that we could consume without risk of suffering these harmful effects. This process is called risk assessment and is conducted by independent scientific advisory committees who are not influenced by any commercial or financial pressures. Members include experts in different types of scientific and medical expertise. In addition, we ensure that the UK committees include lay members to represent the concerns and views of members of the public. The advice of these committees is used in setting acceptable levels for chemicals in food.

The Agency's role

The Food Standards Agency aims to ensure that the chemicals present in food do not compromise food safety. To achieve this we:

Obtain advice on particular chemicals from our independent scientific advisory committees, or ask those committees to set up working groups (for example, the Phytoestrogen Working Party) to examine issues of concern
Commission surveys on levels of chemicals in different foods, in order to estimate total amounts that we consume and check that safety levels are complied with
Develop methods of estimating the amounts of food chemicals consumed by consumers, including those of different ages and different dietary habits
Ensure that consumer interests are taken into account in the safety assessments of pesticides, veterinary medicines and natural toxicants
Liaise and negotiate with other EU member states, the European Commission and international organisations to develop appropriate standards for levels of chemicals in food
Commission research on food intolerance, risk assessment of food chemicals, phytoestrogens, molecular toxicology, food additives and food contact materials

Chemicals present in food

Chemicals become present in our food in a number of ways:

Contaminants are widespread in our environment, and may enter the food chain and be present in all plant and animal products that we eat (e.g. dioxins)
Chemical components of materials which come into contact with food, such as packaging materials, may be absorbed into our foods
Chemicals may form during food processing or cooking (e.g. polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons)
Chemicals used in farming, such as pesticides and veterinary medicines may remain in the products we eat
Additives are deliberately added to food in order to provide some useful purpose, such as flavours and preservatives, which allow the consumer to select a varied diet from preserved foods all the year round
Some natural components of plants may themselves cause toxicity (eg glycoalkaloids in potatoes), while some may be harmful if not cooked properly (eg lectins in pulses). There are also some foodstuff which can cause allergies in susceptible individuals (e.g peanuts).
Chemicals may be produced by moulds which contaminate crops during storage, such as aflatoxins.

Find out more

Acrylamide

In April 2002, scientists in Sweden discovered unexpectedly large amounts of the chemical acrylamide in foods rich in starch that had been cooked at high temperatures. These included crisps, chips, bread and crispbreads. Acrylamide is known to cause cancer in animals and its presence in some foods may harm people's health.

Additives

Additives aren't a recent invention. Saltpetre was used in the Middle Ages to preserve meat. Nowadays, nitrite, the active ingredient in saltpetre, is used. It avoids meat becoming contaminated with the organism that causes botulism.

Food contact materials

The Agency is responsible for ensuring the public is adequately protected against chemicals that might transfer into your food from these materials, causing you harm or affecting the quality of your food.

Food supplements

The Food Supplements Directive 2002/46/EC came into force in July 2002 and was implemented in England by the (External) Food Supplements (England) Regulations 2003 . Separate, equivalent legislation has been made in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The directive and these regulations have applied in full since 1 August 2005.

Packaging

Today it is increasingly unusual for food not to have some form of packaging, and as well as packaging food comes into contact with a wide variety of surfaces – for example, utensils in the home, conveyor belts in food manufacture, and boxes and vehicles when it is distributed around the country.

Para red dye

Para red is a chemical dye used in printing. It is not a permitted colour under the Colours in Food Regulations 1995 and its use in food is illegal.

Pesticides

The Food Standards Agency ensures that food safety is given priority during the authorisation and monitoring of pesticides.

Sudan dyes

Sudan dyes are red dyes that are used for colouring solvents, oils, waxes, petrol, and shoe and floor polishes. They have been found in some chilli powder imported from India. They have also been found in a number of food products containing this chilli powder. Sudan dyes are not allowed to be added to food in the UK and the rest of the EU.

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