THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union， and
in particular Article 292 thereof，
Whereas:
(1)
Commission Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006 of 19 December 2006 setting
maximum levels for certain contaminants in foodstuffs (1) sets maximum levels
for cadmium in a range of foodstuffs.
(2)
The Scientific Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain (Contam Panel) of
the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) adopted an opinion on cadmium in food
on 30 January 2009 (2). In this opinion， EFSA established a new Tolerable Weekly
Intake (TWI) of 2，5 μg/kg bodyweight. In its statement on the ‘Re-assessment of
the tolerable weekly intake for cadmium established by the Contam Panel in 2009’
(3) EFSA took into account the recent risk assessment carried out by the Joint
FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) (4) and confirmed the TWI of
2，5 μg/kg bodyweight.
(3)
In the scientific opinion the Contam Panel concluded that the mean
dietary exposures in European countries are close to or slightly exceeding the
TWI of 2，5 μg/kg bodyweight. Certain subgroups of the population may exceed the
TWI by about two-fold. The Contam Panel further concluded that， although adverse
effects on kidney function are unlikely to occur for an individual exposed at
this level， exposure to cadmium at the population level should be reduced.
(4)
According to the scientific opinion of the Contam Panel， the food groups
that contribute to the major part of the dietary cadmium exposure， primarily
because of the high consumption， were: cereals and cereals products， vegetables，
nuts and pulses， starchy roots or potatoes and meat and meat products. Highest
cadmium concentrations were detected in the food commodities seaweed， fish and
seafood， chocolate and foods for special dietary uses as well as in fungi，
oilseeds and edible offal.
(5)
Maximum levels for cadmium have been established in 2001 in a range of
foodstuffs， including cereals， vegetables， meat， fish， seafood， offals and food
supplements. Taking into consideration the recent EFSA conclusions， new maximum
levels for baby foods and chocolate/cocoa products have been considered and it
is expected that these levels will be adopted shortly.
(6)
Furthermore， following the scientific opinions on cadmium of the Contam
Panel， the Commission also investigated the possibilities to reduce some of the
existing maximum levels for cadmium in foodstuffs that are major contributors to
exposure (e.g. cereals， vegetables， potatoes).
(7)
The Commission considers that an immediate reduction of the maximum
levels would be difficult to achieve. Cadmium presence in foodstuffs is not
uniform， but highly variable depending for instance on the geographical location
of the growing area (different levels of natural cadmium presence in soil due to
different distribution in the earth crust)， on the availability of cadmium from
soil (different extent of transfer from the soil to the plants depending on the
pH of the soil and other soil components)， different plant varieties with
different patterns of cadmium accumulation， but also of anthropogenic factors
such as agricultural use of sewage sludge， manure or phosphate fertilisers and
other factors. Concerning the presence of cadmium in phosphate fertilisers， on
which work is ongoing， the Commission is aware of the need to take action in
accordance with its risk reduction strategy for cadmium and cadmium oxide
adopted in 2008 (5).
(8)
However， some mitigation methods for reduction of cadmium presence in
foods already exist but need some time to be fully implemented by farmers and
food business operators. In some cases existing methods need to be specifically
adapted to the crops and geographical areas for which they are to be applied and
to be better communicated and promoted to farmers in order to achieve reductions
in cadmium levels in food in the medium/long term. It is therefore appropriate
that Member States take the necessary steps to ensure that the already available
mitigation methods are communicated and promoted to farmers and started or
continued to be implemented with a view to reducing cadmium levels in food.
Where necessary， further research and investigations should be carried out to
fill any possible gaps in knowledge on mitigation methods.
(9)
The progress of the effects of the measures taken should be regularly
monitored and reported to the Commission. Further occurrence data on cadmium
should be collected and regularly reported to EFSA to enable the Commission to
reassess the situation by 31 December 2018 with a view to deciding about further
appropriate measures.
HAS ADOPTED THIS RECOMMENDATION:
(1)
Member States should ensure that available mitigation measures for
reduction of cadmium levels in food， in particular in cereals， vegetables and
potatoes， are progressively implemented by farmers and food business operators.
This includes effective ways of communicating and promoting known mitigation
methods to farmers and food business operators.
(2)
Member States should ensure that where further knowledge is needed to
identify the appropriate mitigation measures， e.g. for a certain crop or in a
specific geographical area， investigations/research is carried out to fill these
gaps in knowledge.
(3)
Member States should regularly monitor the progress of the mitigation
measures implemented by collecting occurrence data on cadmium levels in food.
Member States should ensure that
1.
the analytical results are provided on a regular basis to EFSA for
compilation into a single database and that
2.
a report on the progress with the implementation of this recommendation
is provided to the European Commission in December 2015 followed by a final
report at the latest in February 2018. In these reports， particular attention
should be given to those cadmium levels close to or exceeding the maximum
levels.
(4)
The sampling and analysis should be performed in accordance with the
provisions provided for in Commission Regulation (EC) No 333/2007 of 28 March
2007 laying down methods of sampling and analysis for the official control of
the levels of lead， cadmium， mercury， inorganic tin， 3-MCPD and polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbons in foodstuffs (6).
Done at Brussels， 4 April 2014.
For the Commission
Tonio BORG
Member of the Commission
