Foodlaw-Reading
Dr David Jukes, The University of Reading, UK
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Council Minutes, 9 October 2017
The following is an extract from the minutes of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting on the 9 October 2017:
The Council decided not to oppose the adoption of Commission regulation establishing mitigation measures and benchmark levels for the reduction of the presence of acrylamide in food (11651/17 + ADD 1).
In 2015 a scientific panel of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) adopted an opinion on acrylamide in food. The opinion stated that the presence of acrylamide in food potentially increased the risk of developing cancer for consumers in all age groups and especially children.
The new Commission regulation therefore establishes mitigation measures which identify food processing steps susceptible to the formation of acrylamide in foods and sets out activities to reduce the levels of acrylamide in those foodstuffs. It also introduces benchmark levels, which are performance indicators used to verify the effectiveness of the mitigation measures.
