Contaminants: SCOPAFF approves Inorganic arsenic levels in fish and other seafood

The Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed (SCOPAFF), section Novel Food and Toxicological Safety of the Food Chain, had a meeting on 10 April 2025. The summary of the meeting has been made available.

The previously published draft levels for inorganic arsenic in fish and other seafood were approved by the committee. Other topics of discussion included:

• Sweden supports the proposal, but raises concerns about its impact on the Swedish fishing industry due to limited data, particularly for inland water fish and shellfish. It also emphasizes the need to report fishing area data to better assess contamination risks.
• One Member State proposed evaluating specific MLs for inorganic arsenic in canned fish. The Commission agreed to discuss it further, alongside ongoing talks on mercury levels in canned fish.

The full summary is available at https://food.ec.europa.eu/document/download/ab74ad82-82aa-4262-985c-8be2f15217b9_en?filename=reg-com_toxic_20250410_sum.pdf

Contact João Pereira at jpereira@frucom.eu.