The monitoring programme
- Objectives and legal basis of monitoring
- Performance of monitoring
- What are the criteria of selection of products and substances?
- How many analyses are carried out?
- What happens with monitoring findings?
- The 2012 monitoring programme
The monitoring programme is a systematic measuring and watch programme which has been jointly performed by the Federal Government and the states since 1995. It representatively covers foodstuffs, and – since 2010 – also cosmetic products and consumer products, which are examined for contents of substances undesirable from the health point of view.
Objectives and legal basis of monitoring
Monitoring serves preventive health protection of consumers. It helps to early recognise, and possibly prevent by targeted measures, potential risks to consumers’ health which might be caused by undesirable substances, such as residues of plant protection products, mycotoxins, heavy metals, and other environmental contaminants, found in and on foodstuffs, cosmetic products, and consumer products.
The monitoring programme is an independent legal task in the framework of official control on the basis of §§ 50-52 of the German Food and Feed Code.
Performance of monitoring
Performance of monitoring is regulated by § 51 of the Food and Feed Code. It is based on an annual plan set up by the Federal Government and the states fixing in detail the products to be examined, the substances to be looked for, and the distribution of monitoring analyses over the states. Participating laboratories are provided with a monitoring manual which serves as a guideline for the practical performance of monitoring. Sample taking and analysis for the purpose of monitoring are tasks which the states’ enforcement authorities have in addition to their routine control tasks. The data obtained under the monitoring programme are compiled and assessed by BVL, and findings are published in an annual monitoring report.
Both the monitoring manual and the annual report of monitoring findings, including the table volume giving a comprised survey of the data, can be downloaded at the right margin of this page.
The reports of the food monitoring published since 2005 can also be purchased at Birkhäuser Verlag publishing house or in bookshops.
What are the criteria of selection of products and substances?
Products are chosen for monitoring analyses according to the provisions of § 3 of the general administrative provisions on the performance of monitoring of foodstuffs, cosmetic products and consumer products in the years 2011 - 2015 (AVV Monitoring 2011 - 2015). These provisions are based on a long-term plan agreed between the Federal Government and the states for developing sound data for risk assessment of, for instance, pesticide residues, heavy metals, mycotoxins, PFC, dioxins and PCB, and on the requirements of Article 29 of Regulation (EC) No. 396/2005 concerning provision of findings about pesticide residues in certain foodstuffs.
The foodstuffs to be examined are part of a representative market basket derived from national consumption studies (market basket monitoring). Apart from that, some food is analysed in the framework of particular projects (project monitoring). These projects centre on particular problems related to certain substances or foods which are of topical importance.
Each product chosen is analysed for certain substances which may occur as residues or contaminants in or on that product, and which are specified in advance. Such substances may be:
- Residues of plant protection products
- Toxic reaction products (e. g., acrylamide, 3-MCPD, furan)
- Organic contaminants (e. g., dioxins, PCB, PFC, aromatic hydrocarbons)
- Residues of pharmacologically active substances
- Mycotoxins (e. g., aflatoxins, OTA, T-2/HT-2, ZEA, DON, fumonisins, patulin)
- Elements (heavy metals)
- Nitrate and nitrite
How many analyses are carried out?
The monitoring programme will annually include a total of 9000 analyses in foodstuffs, 500 analyses in cosmetic products and 500 analyses in consumer products on the national scale, pursuant to § 3(2) of AVV Monitoring 2011 - 2015 (the general administrative provisions on the performance of the monitoring in the years 2011 – 2015). An analysis in the meaning of these provisions is an analysis of one product for certain representatives of one of the afore-named group of substances. The states’ enforcement authorities may choose whether different analyses in one product shall be carried out in one and the same sample or in different samples of that product. In the total of analyses, the minimum number of samples analysed per product will be 50.
What happens with monitoring findings?
Monitoring findings are continuously used in health risk assessment and review (and, if necessary, revision) of legal limits of substances which are undesirable from the health point of view. In the case of cosmetic products, updating of the data serves, inter alia, to derive guidance values for technically unavoidable contents of, e. g., elements. For these purposes, the data are delivered to the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) pursuant to § 51(5) of the Food and Feed Code, to the European Food and Safety Authority (EFSA), and to the World Health Organisation. Conspicuous findings may lead to further studies into the causes of those findings in later surveillance programmes.
The 2012 monitoring programme
The following food products are examined in the framework of the market basket monitoring in 2012:
- Butter (full fat content)
- Harz cheese
- Chicken eggs
- Veal (meat and liver)
- Brown shrimps (meat)
- Herring, herring filet
- Tuna (tinned)
- Wheat kernels
- Spelt wheat grains
- Maize flour
- Oat grains
- Chick peas
- Pine kernels
- Olive oil
- Cultured champignon
- Sweet peppers powder
- Wine (red, white)
- Orange juice
- Coffee (roasted and ground)
- Chamomile tea
- Tea of stinging nettle
- Chocolate (at least 80% cocoa content)
- Cocoa powder
- Apricots
- Grapes (red, white)
- Bananas
- Dates (dried)
- Water melons
- Tangerines
- Parsley leaves (fresh)
- Rucola (rocket salad)
- Cauliflower
- Kale (fresh, deep frozen)
- Aubergines
- Sweet peppers
- Peas (deep frozen, without shells)
- Sweet corn
- Radish
The 2012 project monitoring includes the following subjects:
- Phthalates in fine bakery ware
- 3-MCPD in smoked cured raw meat product and raw sausage
- Heavy metals in game meat
- Brominated flame retardants in foodstuffs
The following cosmetic products will be examined for heavy metal contents in 2012:
- Cream rouge
- Cream eye shadow
- Eyeliner pencil
- Mascara (various colours)
- Tooth paste, gel
From the huge variety of consumer products, the following product categories are examined in 2012 for contents of phthalic acid esters (phthalates, plasticizers) in the lacquer coats of products:
- Crayons from lacquered wood
- Toys from lacquered wood (for children aged under 36 months)