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IFN 01-18 - Tests applied to surveillance food
Issued: 26 March 2018
Purpose
The purpose of this notice is to advise of amendments to thetests applied to surveillance foodthat come into effect for all entries lodged from 24 April 2018.
Summary of changes effective from 24 April 2018
The Department of Agriculture and Water Resources has completed a review of the surveillance tests applied to the following imported food products:
Fresh and frozen meat
Fruit and vegetables that are minimally processed and are ready to eat
Dried herbs
Shredded coconut, chilled or frozen
Hemp seed and hemp seed products
Surveillance tests are randomly applied at a rate of 5 per cent of consignments.
Fresh and frozen meat C antimicrobial screen
The pesticide screen that has been applied to imports of meat, edible offal and animal fats at the surveillance rate since December 2006 will cease as of 24 April 2018. This test will be replaced by a screen for certain antibiotic residues identified as being of high importance to human medicine. The screen will initially be limited to include testing for fluoroquinolones (same as those in theseafood/fish antimicrobial screen), cephalosporins (ceftiofur) and streptogramins (virginiamycin). Analysis results will be assessed against Standard 1.4.2 of theAustralia New Zealand Food Standards Code.
Beef from New Zealand is excluded from the tests.
Selected minimally processed fruit and vegetables -E. coliandSalmonella
In March 2015 the department introduced surveillance testing forE. coliin frozen ready-to-eat berries as an indicator of process hygiene following the outbreak of hepatitis A in this food. A review of microbiological risks associated with other fresh and minimally processed fruits and vegetables identified other types of ready-to-eat horticultural products susceptible to microbiological contamination. As a result of this review, the department will addE. colitesting to:
Fresh baby corn
Sweet/sugar snap peas
Fresh chillies
Frozen spinach
Dried, semi dried and sundried tomatoes
Dried dates
andSalmonellatesting to:
Dried and powdered herbs
Shredded coconut C chilled and/or frozen
Foods imported as an ingredient or going for further processing are excluded from these tests as they receive a heat treatment through cooking which eliminates the risk.
Clearance
The department will use the standards established by the International Commission on Microbiological Specification for Foods (ICMSF) to determine compliance with section 3(2) of theImported Food Control Actwhich states that food poses a risk to human health if it contains pathogenic micro-organisms or their toxins, or, micro-organisms indicating poor handling
Food will be cleared against the criteria outlined in the following table:
Hazard/test applied
|
Food type
|
Standard
|
E. coli
|
Dried dates, dried, semi-dried, sundried tomatoes
|
n=5, c=2, m=100, M=1000 cfu/g
|
Frozen spinach
|
n=5, c=2, m=10 cfu/g
|
|
Ready to eat fresh and fresh cut, minimally processed vegetables C baby corn, sweet/sugar snap peas, fresh chillies
|
n=5, c=1, m=10, M=100 cfu/g
|
|
Salmonella
|
Dried and powdered herbs
|
n=10, c=0, m=not detected in any 25 g sample
|
Shredded coconut, fresh/chilled
|
n= 10, c=0, m=not detected in any 25 g sample
|
Where
n = the minimum number of sample units which must be examined from a lot of food,
c = the maximum allowable number of defective sample units, i.e that have counts between m and M
m = the acceptable microbiological level in a sample unit
M = the level which when exceeded (i.e. the level is greater than M) in one or more samples would cause the lot to be rejected.
Hemp seeds and hemp seed products
On 12 November 2017, the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code was amended to permit the sale of low-tetrahydrocannabinol (low-THC)Cannabis sativaseed (known as hemp seed) as food or for use as an ingredient in food.
On 24 April 2018 the department will introduce testing of hemp seeds and hemp seed food products at the surveillance rate to verify that imports are derived from low THCcannabis sativaseed and comply with the permitted levels for total THC and cannabidiol set down in Standard 1.4.4 Prohibited and restricted plants and fungi.
Hemp seed and hemp seed protein powders/flour referred for inspection will be cleared where:
total THC is not more than 5 mg/kg
cannabidiol is not more than 75 mg/kg
Hemp oil (oil extracted from low THC hemp seed) will be cleared where:
total THC is not more than 10 mg/kg
cannabidiol is not more than 75 mg/kg
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