EU: Results of the EC's coordinated herb and spice control plan - high risk of adulteration

Published Dec 2, 2021

Tridge summary

The European Commission has released the results of the first coordinated authenticity control plan for herbs and spices, covering six different herbs and involving 21 EU Member States, Switzerland, and Norway. Conducted by the Joint Research Center, the plan aimed to assess the authenticity and purity of these herbs using advanced techniques and relevant ISO standards. The results revealed varying levels of adulteration across the sampled herbs and spices, with oregano having the highest risk of adulteration. The Commission has called for economic operators and national authorities to devise a plan to address these issues and increase official controls to prevent unfair practices and ensure consumer safety.

Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

On November 23, 2021, the European Commission published the results of the first coordinated authenticity control plan for herbs and spices initiated by the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety. 21 EU Member States participated, Switzerland and Norway. The JRC (Joint Research Center) performed nearly 10,000 analyzes on 1,885 samples using state-of-the-art analytical techniques to validate six different herbs and spices - oregano, pepper, cumin, turmeric, saffron, paprika / chili. methodology The authenticity and purity of the herbs and spices have been assessed on the basis of the relevant ISO standards. In case a sample did not meet these regulations with regard to foreign matter and total ash, it was considered to be a suspect of forgery. In addition, the results of additional studies targeting specific biomarkers of herbs and spices were used as supporting evidence. For the first time, national food control authorities and the Commission have pooled their experience ...

Source: Foodfakty