§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the present view of the safe limit for consumption of ochratoxin A; and what plans he has to revise the limit.
§ Mrs. Browning[holding answer 27 February 1995]: There are at present no legislative limits for ochratoxin A in foods. The European Commission has initiated negotiations to set regulatory limits for ochratoxin A in some foodstuffs. The Department of Health's Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment has recommended that levels of ochratoxin A should be reduced to the lowest technologically achievable. The European Commission's Scientific Committee for Food has recently concluded
that an acceptable safe level of daily exposure of ochratoxin A would fall in the range of a few nanograms per kilogram body weight per day".
§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what research work he has undertaken on the alleged connection between ochratoxin A in coffee and cases of kidney cancer.
§ Mrs. Browning[holding answer 27 February 1995]: It is accepted that ochratoxin A is a genotoxic carcinogen and causes kidney cancer. The mycotoxin that produces ochratoxin A occurs naturally in the environment and is an opportunistic contaminant of a variety of foodstuffs, not only coffee beans. The levels found in UK food are generally low. MAFF surveillance of ochratoxin A in coffee began in October 1994 and will be completed in late 1995. The results will be published in the "Food Safety Information Bulletin". MAFF-funded research to investigate the effects of decaffeination, roasting and brewing on levels of ochratoxin A in coffee is planned to start in April 1995. It is expected that the results from this study will be published in the scientific literature.