Background
The 16th Session of the Codex Committee on Contaminants in Foods (CCCF16) agreed to request the JECFA Secretariat to issue a call for data on cadmium and lead in quinoa and quinoa-based products, including foods for infants and young children.
We are therefore requesting submission of new or additional data on cadmium and lead in the following quinoa and quinoa-based products, including foods for infants and young children:
- Data on occurrence of cadmium and lead for the last 10 years, consumption data, and country of origin (if known) should be indicated in the remarks field in order to help assess the geographic representativity of the data;
- data collected with methods with a LOQ of 0.4 mg/kg or below, would be helpful but not required, given the current MLs in CXS193 for lead and cadmium in grains of up to 0.4 mg/kg.
Data should be submitted as indicated below, to allow the JECFA Secretariat time for data analysis.
The call for data can also be viewed online at https://www.who.int/teams/nutrition-and-food-safety/standards-and-scientific-advice-on-food-and-nutrition or https://www.fao.org/food-safety/scientific-advice/calls-for-data-and-experts-expert-rosters/en/
Date for submission
The submission of data is requested before
15 December 2023
This deadline applies to all data to be submitted.
WHO will be compiling data for the JECFA Secretariat.
All new data must be uploaded in the GEMS database, which is easily accessible on the web.
To access the GEMS database, go to https://extranet.who.int/gemsfood/. To submit data, you will need an account, and instructions on creating an account found on the website.
For technical questions about submitting data to GEMS, please contact Dr Luc Ingenbleek at WHO (ingenbleekl@who.int).
Please make sure that you read the “GEMS/Food Database Manual” before attempting to submit data to GEMS.
When submitting data to the GEMS/Food database for this work, please:
- Provide complete information on the LOQ and LOD of analytical methods;
- Complete information for identification of the samples (serial number);
- Provide information in the “Local Food Identifier” or “WHO food identifier” fields of the database to allow more specific identification of samples, e.g., dried or fresh;
- Results analysed on dry weight basis should be converted on “as is” basis considering the humidity of the product.