Call for scientific data on furan in food and beverages

Échéance: 31 décembre 2010
Background:
Furan has been identified in a number of foods that undergo heat treatment such as canned and jarred foods. The EFSA Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain elaborated a scientific report [1] reviewing currently available data on methods of analysis, occurrence, formation, and exposure toxicity. From the presently available data it seems that there is a relatively small difference between possible human exposures and doses in experimental animals that produce carcinogenic effects, probably by a genotoxic mechanism. However, the current limited availability of occurrence data in food does not allow a sound dietary exposure assessment. A call for more information on the occurrence of furan in foods has thus been issued.
 
Objectives of the database
The furan database will be set up to gain more data on actual levels on furan found in food in order to allow a more sound dietary exposure assessment for risk assessment purposes. In particular the database aims to provide additional information in the following areas: broad coverage of different food categories including beverages, data on variability within and between brands, and information on freshly prepared foods (home cooking).
 
Request to Member States

The Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health endorsed the Commission proposal for a recommendation on the monitoring of the presence of furan in foodstuffs in its meeting on 14th December 2006. The Commission Recommendation of 28 March 2007 on the monitoring of the presence of furan in foodstuffs (2007/196/EC) requires the collection of data on commercial foodstuffs as purchased disregarding any further preparation and commercial foodstuffs analyzed as consumed after further preparation in the laboratory. A special focus should be given on data collection during the year 2007 and 2008. After that, data collection should continue on a routine basis. The European Food Safety Authority is pleased to announce that the database on furan levels in food is open for data from 1 January 2007 and onwards. A spreadsheet has been developed for data submissions with accompanying instructions. As an alternative a comma delimited (csv) or an xml file extracted from available databases and following a similar structure to the spreadsheet above can be used.

Data from all kind of laboratories are needed (official food control, research, food industry). EFSA will ensure that the data are handled confidentially. The submitted data will be used by the EFSA to conduct a more comprehensive risk assessment. Based on the risk assessment the European Commission will discuss appropriate management measures.

 
 
Contact person
Dr. Caroline Merten, Scientific Officer, Data Collection and Exposure Unit,

European Food Safety Authority
Tel: +39-0521-036-546

Fax: +39-0521-036-546
 
 
Furan Instruction (0.1 Mb)
Furan input form (0.2 Mb)
Publié: 21 décembre 2006