The European Food Safety Authority has begun to publish a series of newsletters on the web regarding animals, food etc the address is:
http://www.efsa.europa.eu/EFSA/NewsPressRoom/News/efsa_locale-1178620753812_1211902066324.htm
if you wish to subscribe.
There is an article this week about marine biotoxins and consumption levels, from which I extracted this piece as it relates to recent mails on this listserve regarding consumption levels (which the article makes clear data are scant in Europe) suggesting that a large portion size of shellfish meat (in this case bivalve) is 400g.
In order to protect against the acute effects of OA-group toxins, it is important to use a high portion size rather than a long-term average consumption in the health risk assessment of shellfish consumption. Consumption data for shellfish species across the EU, were limited, therefore EFSA requested the Member States to provide information on consumption of relevant shellfish species. Based on data provided by five Member States, the Panel identified 400 g of shellfish meat as the high portion size to be used in the acute risk assessment of marine biotoxins.
It was noted that a 400 g portion of shellfish meat containing OA-group toxins at the current EU limit of 160 µg OA equivalents/kg shellfish meat would result in a dietary exposure of 64 µg toxin. For a 60 kg adult this is equivalent to approximately 1 µg/kg b.we. This figure exceeds the ARfD by approximately 3-fold and is in the region of the LOAEL as derived from the human case studies. Therefore, this intake would be expected to exert effects in susceptible consumers. Based on the consumption and occurrence data, there is an approximately 20% chance of exceeding the ARfD of 0.3 µg OA equivalents/kg b.we. when consuming shellfish currently available on the European market. Thus DSP occurs under the current legislation and the prescribed reference methods for control. The Panel concluded that in order for a 60 kg adult to not exceed the ARfD, a 400 g portion of shellfish should not contain more than 18 µg toxin, i.e. 45 µg OA equivalents/kg shellfish meat.
Richard Chivers
Seafood Audit International
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