Limit proposed for lead in mushrooms
The maximum level (ML) for lead in fresh mushrooms would be set at 0.3 mg/kg under a recommendation to a FAO WHO Codex Alimentarius committee.
An electronic working group established by the Committee on Contaminants in Foods advises considering that limit in its report on proposed draft revisions of MLs for lead in various food products, including fruit juices and canned fruits and vegetables.
In its report, released in February, the group referred to analysis of a dataset comprised of about 600 samples of fresh fungi and mushrooms from 11 countries.
“For fresh fungi and mushrooms, 99 percent of the samples in the 2016 dataset may meet a hypothetical ML of 0.5 mg/kg, 97 percent of samples may meet a hypothetical ML of 0.4 or 0.3 mg/kg, and 92 percent of samples may meet a hypothetical ML of 0.2 mg/kg. Thus, lowering the ML to the hypothetical level of 0.3 mg/kg would eliminate 3 percent of the samples in international trade and lowering the ML to the hypothetical level of 0.2 mg/kg would eliminate 8 percent of the samples in international trade. The EWG recommends that the Committee consider establishing an ML for lead in fungi and mushrooms (excluding dried fungi and mushroom and fungus products) of 0.3 mg/kg,” it said.
The current version of the General Standard for Contaminants and Toxins in Food and Feed excludes fungi and mushrooms from the 0.05 mg/kg standard for lead in fruiting vegetables.
The next session of the Committee on Contaminants in Foods is to be held in Rotterdam this April 4-8.
