The BFFF Technical team recently attended an FSA meeting where an update on mustard contamination in wheat was provided. Below is a summary issued by the FSA following that meeting:

• Italy have confirmed their position is precautionary: based on anecdotal evidence from Ireland and concerns around the accuracy of existing tests for identifying the presence of mustard within foodstuffs.
• We will not be producing any guidance on this specific issue: our understanding is that it is based solely on anecdotal evidence; there have been no RASSF or INFOSAN reports of European consumers experiencing adverse reactions; no compelling explanation has been provided as to why the 2021/2022 harvest would be significantly contaminated; ELISA tests for mustard cross-react and there is concern that certain confirmatory PCR tests may also cross-react. (However, our scientific methods colleagues have assessed validation reports from Eurofins for their mustard PCR test and have confirmed it does not cross-react with oil seed rape),
• It is the responsibility of food businesses to risk assess allergen cross-contact within their supply chains.
• The FSA does not set thresholds for deterministic risk assessments and food businesses can apply other forms of risk assessment (e.g., probabilistic) – as long as the food they sell is safe.
• We are commissioning a literature review of analytical methodologies available for allergen testing (for the 14 regulated allergens), including limitations of the methods, cost effectiveness, reporting units and analytical threshold levels for different matrices, which will be completed this financial year.
• We are conducting a review of the Codex Expert Committee’s full report of recommendations for threshold levels for the Codex priority allergens that is due to be published this autumn, which will help inform a consultation on a workable system for applying PAL to prepacked foods planned for 2024/25.

Should you have any comments or queries in relation to the above please do not hesitate to contact Deniserion@bfff.co.uk