Report

The Food Standards Agency (FSA), United States has recommended 14 updates to import regulations for non-animal origin foods, focusing on Salmonella, pesticide residues, and aflatoxin in products from countries including Brazil, China, Turkey, and India. These changes involve document verification, identity checks, and physical inspections, including sampling.

Key Proposed Changes

• No Changes: Existing controls will remain for black pepper from Brazil (50% checks), enoki mushrooms from China and South Korea (20%), and U.S. groundnuts and peanut butter (10% aflatoxin testing).
• Relaxed Checks: Due to improved compliance, identity and physical checks for Malaysian jackfruit and Vietnamese okra will drop from 50% to 20%.
• New Inspections: Papaya from Brazil and dragon fruit from Thailand will face 10% pesticide testing, while Paraguayan groundnuts and peanut butter will undergo aflatoxin checks.
• Stricter Monitoring: Eggplant from the Dominican Republic and nutmeg, mace, and cardamoms from India will now face 50% inspection due to pesticide risks. Indian okra, drumsticks, and spices (cumin, coriander, turmeric, etc.) will need pre-export lab testing for pesticide residues.
• Salmonella Concerns: Sesame seeds, tahini, and halva from Nigeria, Syria, Turkey, Ethiopia, India, Sudan, and Uganda will be monitored for contamination.

FSA’s Risk Assessment Approach

The FSA uses border surveillance, global data, and risk-scoring models to assess food safety threats. Their system ranks hazards based on product characteristics, trade volume, and potential health risks. While these rankings guide decisions, final control measures consider multiple data sources.

Source: Food Safety News