Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) call for data on Cadmium in all food commodities

Background

The 13^th Session of the Codex Committee on Contaminants in Foods (CCCF13), held in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, from April 29 - May 3, 2019, agreed to establish an Electronic Working Group (EWG) led by Ecuador and Ghana to continue to work on maximum levels (MLs) for certain categories of chocolates and cocoa-derived products for consideration by CCCF14 (May 2021). Further to the request of CCCF13 for more updated occurrence data for cadmium in food, the JECFA Secretariat issued a call for data on cadmium in chocolates and cocoa-derived products in 2019.

The new data submitted reflect a wider global distribution of occurrence data of cadmium in cocoa products compared to 2013 when JECFA evaluated the same products at its 77th JECFA meeting. The additional data also seem to indicate a higher mean occurrence concentration for cadmium in cocoa products than previously observed by JECFA (further details are provided in CX/CF 20/14/3-Add.1[*]).

Considering the new data, the JECFA secretariat considers it important to update the dietary exposure assessment of cadmium from not only chocolates and cocoa products but from all food sources.

The updated dietary exposure assessment to cadmium from all food sources will be included in the agenda of the 91^st meeting of JECFA that will be scheduled in early 2021.

Request for data [†]

We are requesting the submission of new data on cadmium from all food sources, particularly chocolates and cocoa products, covering approximately the last 10 years. In particular:

1. levels and patterns of human exposure to cadmium from all food sources (particularly chocolates and cocoa products);
2. food consumption patterns; also considering different age/population groups; and
3. biomarkers of exposure.

Deadline for data submission
1^st December 2020

WHO will be compiling data for the JECFA Secretariat. All new occurrence data must be uploaded in the GEMS database, which is easily accessible on the web. To access the GEMS database, go to https://www.who.int/teams/nutrition-and-food-safety/databases/global-environment-monitoring-system-food-contamination. Please read the “GEMS/Food Database Manual” before attempting to submit data to GEMS. To submit data, you will need an account. Instructions on creating an account are found on page 2 of the manual. For technical questions about submitting data to GEMS, please contact Philippe Verger at WHO (vergerp@who.int).

Note that data already submitted to the GEMS Food Database do not need to be re-submitted.

When submitting data to the GEMS/Food database for this work, please:

• Provide complete information on the LOQ and LOD of analytical methods.
• Provide information in the “Local Food Identifier” or “Notes” fields of the database to allow more specific identification of samples, e.g., Is a food fresh or processed (e.g. fermented, dried/dehydrated, chips, boiled, flour, etc.)?
• Provide information on “State of Food Analysed” e.g., cooked or raw.