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Food Analysis >> Food News >> EU maximum levels and guided values for spices

Current requirements for the spice industry

These limits and guided values for PA, lead, Alternaria and OTA should be observed

May 2022 (update). There were recent changes in 2021 and 2022 for four groups of contaminants that food manufacturing companies should be aware of: Pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PA), lead, Alternaria toxins and ochratoxin A (OTA). These are relevant to companies in the spice industry, but also to other industries that use spices in their products. Check your raw materials now to see if they comply within the current or future EU regulations.

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A compact summary of the latest changes for you

Maximum levels for lead

Regulated by: Commission Regulation (EU) 2021/1317 of 9 August 2021 amending Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006 as regards maximum levels of lead in certain foodstuffs, transferred in May 2023 to the new European Contaminants Regulation (EU) 2023/915.

Validity: since August 2021

Valid for: Wild mushrooms, fresh turmeric and fresh ginger, dried spices (fruit spices, root and rhizome spices, bark spices, bud spices and flower pistil spices, seed spices)

Foodstuffs		maximum level (mg/kg net weight)
3.1.15	Wild fungi, fresh turmeric and fresh ginger	0,80
3.1.26	Dried spices:
	– Fruit spices	0,60
	– Root and rhizome spices	1,50
	– Bark spices	2,0
	– Bud spices and flower pistil spices	1,0
	– Seed spices	0,90

Richtwerte für Alternariatoxine in Gewürzen

Guided values for Alternaria toxins

Regulated by: Commission Recommendation (EU) 2022/553 of 5 April 2022 on monitoring the presence of Alternaria toxins in food

Validity: since April 2022

Valid for: processed tomato products, paprika powder, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, sunflower oil, nuts, dried figs, cereal-based baby foods

Other: Recommendations on sampling procedures apply. Food business operators should submit the previous year's data to EFSA by June 30 each year. These are guideline values above which it should be determined which factors lead to the presence and the impact of food processing.

Food	Alternariol (AOH) (μg/kg)	Alternariol monomethyl ether (AME) (μg/kg)	Tenuazonic acid (TeA) (μg/kg)
Paprika powder	–	–	10.000

Höchstwerte für Ochratoxin A in Lebensmitteln

Maximum levels for ochratoxin A

Regulated by: Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/915 (May 2023) setting maximum levels for certain contaminants in foodstuffs. The amending Regulation (EU) 2022/1370 to the former Contaminants Regulation (EC) No. 1881/2006 (supplementing or reducing the existing maximum levels) entered into force on 28 August 2022.

Validity of added or reduced maximum levels: since January 2023

Amending Regulation valid for: additional maximum levels for spices in general, dried herbs, certain ingredients for herbal tea, dried fruit other than dried grapes, certain oilseeds, pistachios, cocoa powder, non-alcoholic malt beverages and date syrup, and lowering of some existing maximum levels

Maximum levels already in force:

Foodstuffs		Maximum levels (μg/kg)
2.2.14	Spices, including dried spices, except Capsicum spp.	15
	Capsicum spp. (dried fruits thereof, whole or ground, including chillies, chilli powder, cayenne and paprika)	20
	Mixtures of spices	15
2.2.16	Dried herbs	10
2.2.17	Ginger roots for use in herbal infusions	15
2.2.17	Marshmallow roots, dandelion roots and orange blossoms for use in herbal infusions or in coffee substitutes	20

Höchstwerte fürPyrrolizidinalkaloide in Lebensmitteln

Maximum levels for pyrrolizidine alkaloids

Regulated by: Commission Regulation (EU) 2020/2040 of 11 December 2020 amending Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006 as regards maximum levels of pyrrolizidine alkaloids in certain foodstuffs, transferred in May 2023 to the new European Contaminants Regulation (EU) 2023/915.

Validity: since July 2022

Valid for: (flavoured) tea, rooibos and herbal tea, food supplements containing herbal ingredients, pollen (products) and pollen-based food supplements, borage, lovage, marjoram and oregano (dried) and mixtures thereof, cumin

Other: foods listed in the Annex that were legally marketed before 1 July 2022, may continue to be marketed until 31 December 2023.

Foodstuffs		Maximum level (μg/kg)
8.4.8	Borage leaves (fresh, frozen) placed on the market for the final consumer	750
8.4.9	Dried herbs with the exception of the dried herbs referred to in 8.4.10.	400
8.4.10	Borage, lovage, marjoram and oregano (dried) and mixtures exclusively composed of these dried herbs	1.000
8.4.11	Cumin seeds (seed spice)	400

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