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Food Safety

Chloropropanol / 3-MCPD

Legislation:

For 3-MCPD, maximum levels have been established by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006.

Provisions for methods of sampling and analysis for the official control of 3-MCPD are laid down in Commission Regulation (EC) No 333/2007.

Scientific opinions and reports on 3-MCPD:

The Scientific Committee on Food has adopted an Opinion on the toxicity of 3-MCPD on 30 May 2001.

The Scientific Co-operation Report on chloropropanols (SCOOP report)in food was published in June 2004:

3-MCPD esters

In 2013, EFSA issued a report on the presence of 3-MCPD and esters in food "Analysis of occurrence of 3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol (3-MCPD) in food in Europe in the years 2009-2011 and preliminary exposure assessment".

On request of the Commission EFSA issued a statement on 3-MCPDesters in March 2008

Furthermore, a 3-MCPD esters (and related esters) knowledge database established by EFSA serves as a platform for sharing information on ongoing research activities.

The International Life Science Institute (ILSI) in association with the European Commission organised a workshop on 3-MCPD esters in food products on 5 – 6 February 2009.

The workshop was attended by participants from industry, research, national and international authorities. The workshop aimed at bringing together existing knowledge and identifying the key data gaps in order to propose a research strategy to fill these gaps.

The Joint Research Centre's Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (JRC-IRMM) carried out a Proficiency test on 3-MCPD esters in edible oil on request of DG Health and Consumers in 2009/2010. The proficiency test was open to official control laboratories, industry and other interested parties (Report of the proficiency test).

In 2013, EFSA issued a scientific report on the presence of 3-MCPD and esters in food "Analysis of occurrence of 3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol (3-MCPD) in food in Europe in the years 2009-2011 and preliminary exposure assessment".

As a follow-up to this scientific report the Commission adopted on 10 September 2014 Commission Recommendation 2014/661/EU on the monitoring of the presence of 2 and 3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol (2 and 3-MCPD), 2- and 3-MCPD fatty acid esters and glycidyl fatty acid esters in food.

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