Need for guidelines to assess compliance with legislative limits on trace elements in canned vegetables

The JRC, in its role as European Union Reference Laboratory on Heavy Metals (EURL-HM) organised a proficiency test (PT) for the determination of some heavy metals (trace elements) in canned peas. This study revealed that a harmonised sample preparation protocol needs to be used to avoid conflicting decisions about compliance with legislation.

Contamination with toxic elements is a global environmental and food safety concern. Even though metal cans are mostly coated with resins to protect food coming in to the contact with metal, metal cans can be a source of contamination and the occurrence of toxic trace elements in canned food is an issue of concern. Therefore, the European Union has a strict legislative framework setting maximum levels for certain heavy metals in food products. It is the role of the EURL-HM to organise proficiency tests for the National Reference Laboratories (NRL) to not understand only the measurement capacity of NRLs but also to get an insight into the analytical challenges, especially regarding different food matrices.

Further information: Need for guidelines to assess compliance with legislative limits on trace elements in canned vegetables