Food Quality Magazine
earned the top spot in the most
number of alert notifications at
21 percent. Nut and nut products
earned the top spot in most number
of information notifications at 39
percent.
The top reason for alert notifications
was chemical contamination at 36
percent and microbiological contamination at 31 percent for second
place. Meanwhile, mycotoxins (39
percent) were the top identified risk
for information notifications.
For the first time, RASFF notifications
decreased to 6,840 compared to the
previous years. The reason for the
significant decrease was primarily
due to the reduction of microbiological contamination and use of illegal
dyes.
Increase in notifications were from
fish products with high mercury
content, foreign bodies, mycotoxins
and microbiological hazards. There
were also increased notifications in
GM cereals.
2004
2007
In 2004, there were 5,562 notifications majority of which were information notifications.
In 2007, there were 2,976 notifications recorded in the RASFF system.
Just like the previous years, fish,
crustaceans and mollusks top the
list of the most alert notifications
amounting to 24 percent of the
total. The next highest number of
alert notifications were meat, meat
products, game and poultry at 18
percent.
Fish, fish products, crustaceans and
mollusks remain on the top as having
the highest rate of alert notifications
followed by meat and meat products. Fruit and vegetables fall in
third in the list of highest alert notifications per product category.
Chemical contamination topped the
list of identified risk at 39 percent
and microbiological contamination
followed at 31 percent.
2005
Once again, RASFF notifications
increased with 7,170 notifications
in 2005.
During this year, RASFF saw a significant increase in notifications from
products such as honey, cereals,
confectionery, and fish and fish products. Notifications related to meat
and meat products were due to its
illegal import or unauthorized transit.
Another product category with a
significant increase in notifications
are herbs and spices, which were
reported to contain microbiological
hazards, mycotoxins and the Sudan
4 color additive.
Migration of several food contact
materials were also found with the
addition of isopropyl thioxanthone
on the list.
2006
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ISSUE 03 | JULY 2015
Mycotoxin cases were still a recurring
problem. This prompted the EU to
make amendments to its current
legislations regarding set maximum
levels and importation of nuts and
nut products due to aflatoxins.
2008
In 2008, there were 3,099 notifications in the RASFF system. Most
of these original notifications came
from market notifications (1,710)
and border rejections (1,389).
Mycotoxins in nuts and nut products remained as the prevailing and
recurring problem identified by the
RASFF. Perhaps, the most significant
incidence recorded in the RASFF
2008 report is the melamine-tainted
infant milk formula from China.
2009
The notifications increased from
3,099 in 2008 to 3,322 in 2009. Most
of the notifications were based on
market notifications and border rejections. Just like the previous years,
most of the notifications came from
recurring cases due to allergenic
substances, mycotoxins, dioxins,
genetically modified foods, heavy
metal poisoning, pathogenic microorganisms, pesticide residues and
veterinary drug residues.
Focus was given on food poisoning
cases especially Hepatitis A and
Salmonella. Food fraud cases were
also rampant with false health certificate cited as the most common incident. Feed notifications also significantly increased in 2009.
2010
Total number of notifications increased from 3,322 in 2009 to 3,358
notifications.
Among the most significant reasons
for notifications, include pesticide
residues, which increased to 65 percent from the previous year. Cases of
food irradiation also doubled from
last year. Food poisoning due to
Listeria, norovirus, Salmonella, and
histamines also increased slightly
from the previous year.
2011
In 2011, there were 3,812 notifications through the RASFF system.
Follow-up notification were significantly higher at 5,345 cases.
Since 2009, pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables remained the top
reason for notifications. On the other
hand, heavy metals were found to be
the most popular contaminants in
livestock and fish. Mercury and cadmium were the most common heavy
metal contamination on all food categories combined. Notifications for
feeds doubled from the past year
with mycotoxins as the greatest
contributing factor.
2012
In 2012, there were 3,516 notification transmitted through the
RASFF system. There were 5,281 cases of follow up notifications. The
European rapid alert system was
activated for 8,797 times.
Fruits and vegetables ranked the
highest with 716 notifications. Fish
and fish products with 373 notifications follow this. Nuts, nut products and seeds ranked third with
329 notifications. Meat and meat