FOOD CONTAMINATION – CHARACTERISTICS AND LEGAL REGULATIONS. PART I – PLANT TOXINS

Abstract

Food health safety is a set of conditions that must be met and actions that must be taken at all stages of production of or trade in food in order to ensure human health and life.. Food safety is guaranteed by appropriately shaped food law, and the food safety policy pursued by the European Union institutions covers all stages of the food chain, from production to consumption, and guarantees the clarity of infor mation on the origin and composition of food and its labelling. However, not all hazards can be completely eliminated from food, which is why their residues are strictly regulated by law. The key solution in this area was Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1881/2006 of 19 December 2006 setting the maximum levels of certain contaminants in foodstuffs. This legal act, which had been supplemented and amended many times, was replaced by Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/915 of 25 April 2023 on the maximum levels of certain contaminants in food and repealing Regulation (EC) No. 1881/2006. The aim of the work was to characterize plant toxins as contaminants in food, the highest permissible levels of which were introduced by amendments to Regulation EC 1881/2006 and included in the current EU Regulation 915/2023. Results and conclusions: Numerous amendments to Regulation 1881/2006, and consequently Regula tion 2023/915, introduced the highest permissible levels for the following plant toxins: erucic acid, tropane and pyrrolizidine alkaloids and opium alkaloids, hydrogen cyanide and cyanogenic glycosides, and delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol equivalents. Due to the potential threat of these substances, their highest residues in individual foodstuffs must be regulated and monitored as part of official food control activities, while when obtaining raw materials that may contain this type of substances, it is necessary to follow appropri ate recommendations and good practices.