By preventing the most serious risks to consumer health, the EU’s Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) has contributed to food safety in Europe over the past year, according to the 2019 Annual Report published by the European Commission on Thursday 8 October.
Out of a total of 4,118 risk notifications (compared to 3,699 in 2018), 1,175 were alert notifications on a serious health risk, giving rise to recall, withdrawal or destruction of suspect products (compared to 1,118 in 2018).
As in 2018, aflatoxins in nuts were the most frequently reported problem in foodstuffs controlled at EU borders.
Most of the notifications in 2019 concerned food products: nuts, nut products and seeds (671 notifications), followed by fruit and vegetables (506), dietary products, food supplements and fortified foods (345), with a small percentage of notifications concerning animal feed (6%) and contact with food products (4.5%).
Pathogenic microorganisms were the most prevalent hazard notifications (1,124). These were followed by mycotoxins (588), composition (298), pesticide residues (283), allergens (241), materials in contact with foodstuffs (172) and microbial contaminants (144).
To read the report in English: https://bit.ly/3jNmzWy (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)