MRLs and “all other foods” – what does that mean?

Ok, so we have all heard about the “antifreeze” in ice cream and all the terrible preservatives we eat everyday.

What about all those really bad chemicals they spray all over the food before it gets to us????

Only certain chemicals are allowed to be used in connection with foods and this varies to some extent from country to country. These chemicals include; pesticides, herbicides and antibiotics.

In the Food Standards Code there is a section detailing the maximum amount of these chemicals permitted in foods. This is called the Maximum Residual Limits.

Once a chemical is in contact with a food, whether it be chooks, cows or produce, there is a period of time when the animal is withheld from slaughter or the produce from harvest. This is called the withholding period and it varies from chemical to chemical and food to food.

The Maximum Residual Limit (MRL) is the amount of these chemicals permitted to still be in the animal / bird or produce when it is consumed.

The MRL is set by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) after much investigation and testing, to ensure that the amount is not going to cause us harm when we eat the food.

To address the current problem of a chemical being found in foods which are not stated in the Code, FSANZ are working on adjusting the MRLs to include an “all other foods” requirement.

The proposal is now in the submission stage of the process and FSANZ is inviting submissions on it from the public and interested parties.

FSANZ Chief Executive Officer, Steve McCutcheon, said; “This has created issues for enforcement agencies and producers because low levels of chemicals permitted on one food may be accidentally found on other foods not listed in the Code. While these levels (which can result from things like spray drift) don’t represent a public health and safety concern, the presence of chemicals means the food cannot legally be sold. FSANZ is consulting on an approach involving limits being set for some chemicals for all other foods except animal commodities. Some chemicals would be excluded because of high toxicity.”

The all other foods limit will not be a blanket statement but determined on a case by case basis.

Submissions are open until 3 June 2016 at www.foodstandards.gov.au