EFSA - European Food Safety Authority
EFSA - European Food Safety Authority
09/15/2022 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/15/2022 06:20
Decontamination process for dioxins and dioxin‐like PCBs from fish oil and vegetable oils and fats by a physical process with activated carbon
Metadata
EFSA Journal 2022;20(9):7524
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2022.7524
Keywords:
decontamination process, PCDD/Fs, PCBs, fish oil, vegetable oil and fat, physical filtration
On request from:
European Commission
Question Number:
EFSA‐Q‐2021‐00629
Contact:
contam[at] efsa.europa.eu
Panel members at the time of adoption
Dieter Schrenk, Margherita Bignami, Laurent Bodin, James Kevin Chipman, Jesus del Mazo, Bettina Grasl‐Kraupp, Laurentius (Ron) Hoogenboom, Jean‐Charles Leblanc, Carlo Stefano Nebbia, Elsa Nielsen, Evangelia Ntzani, Annette Petersen, Salomon Sand, Tanja Schwerdtle, Christiane Vleminckx, Heather Wallace and Christer Hogstrand.
Abstract
Following a request from the European Commission, the EFSA Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain (CONTAM) assessed a decontamination process of fish oils and vegetable oils and fats to reduce the concentrations of dioxins (polychlorinated dibenzo‐p‐dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans, abbreviated together as PCDD/Fs) and dioxin‐like polychlorinated biphenyls (DL‐PCBs) by adsorption to activated carbon. All feed decontamination processes must comply with the acceptability criteria specified in the Commission Regulation (EU) 2015/786. Data provided by the feed food business operator (FBO) were assessed for the efficacy of the process and to demonstrate that the process did not adversely affect the characteristics and properties of the product. The limited information provided, in particular on the analysis of the samples before and after decontamination, did not allow the CONTAM Panel to conclude whether or not the proposed decontamination process is effective in reducing PCDD/Fs and DL‐PCBs in the fish‐ and vegetable oils and fats. Although there is no evidence from the data provided that the decontamination process leads to detrimental changes in the nutritional composition of the fish‐ and vegetable oils, it is possible that the process could deplete some beneficial constituents (e.g. vitamins). Taken together, it was not possible for the CONTAM Panel to conclude that the decontamination process as proposed by the FBO is compliant with the acceptability criteria provided for in Commission Regulation (EU) 2015/786 of 19 May 2015.
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