KUALA LUMPUR: The one-day forum on 3-MCPD and glycidyl esters (GE) in Jakarta today, hosted by the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC), adjourned with suggestions that one maximum level of 3-MCPD at 2,500 µg/kg or 2.5 ppm for all vegetable oils is the acceptable safety limit for consumption.
It said only one maximum limit should be adopted and there should be no differentiation between vegetable oils as there are no justifications whether from a consumer health risk or scientific perspective.
“The split level would not be consistent with the regulatory measures on GEs, where one maximum limit was established for all vegetable oils, nor be an incentive to continue investing in these mitigation measures,” CPOPC said in a statement.
CPOPC executive director Tan Sri Dr Yusof Basiron welcomed the recommendations, saying the CPOPC would support platforms that involve experts and technology providers in reducing 3-MCPDs and GEs in palm oil.
Six papers were presented by speakers from the European Union (EU), Indonesia and Malaysia.
Frans Verstraete, the European Commission director-general for health and consumer protection, said via video that in its development of food safety regulations on contaminants, the EU pursued a high level of protection of human health and animal health, creating free movement within the EU of feed and food, taking into account international standards, and keeping the contaminant levels as low as could reasonably be achieved.
He pointed out that to achieve a high level of protection of human and animal health, EU legislation will be based on risk analysis, which includes risk assessment as the basis for taking risk management measures related to food safety.
The forum, aimed at promoting the importance of food safety and protection of public health, was attended by some 450 participants, including from oil and food processing, trade, research and development of oil products, as well as decision-makers and authorities of consumer protection and public health in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and India. – Feb 7, 2020, Bernama
