Codex tackles cadmium levels

Ahead of the Codex committee on food additives and contaminants that meets next April in The Netherlands to discuss and set global food standards, the European community warns that 'levels should be kept low' after they found that average dietary intake of cadmium in adults was up to 38 per cent of the Provisional Tolerable Weekly Intake (PTWI is 7 µg/kg.bw). And for children they concluded that higher intakes were up to 65 per cent of the PTWI. "It is important for the protection of children and high level consumers to set maximum levels which are as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA) to help ensure that the PTWI is not exceeded," said the European Commission . Cadmium, a naturally-occurring toxic heavy metal, is one of the few elements that has no constructive purpose in the human body. In mammals, cadmium is virtually absent at birth but accumulates with time, especially in the liver and kidneys that can lead to health problems. The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) has set the PTWI for the heavy metal at 7 µg/kg of body weight. In a JECFA report published in June 2003 the group pushed for maximum levels after concluding that some consumers might even exceed the PTWI. Key foodstuffs responsible for the levels came in as rice, wheat, starchy roots/ tubers, molluscs and non-leafy vegetables. Studies have shown that subsistence rice farmers have been sickened by ingesting cadmium that has passed from municipal sewage sludge used as fertiliser through the rice crop. Cadmium is taken up through the roots of plants to edible leaves, fruits and seeds. It will also build up in animal milk and fatty tissues. The European community rejected proposals to increase the draft maximum level from 0.2 mg/kg to 0.4 mg/kg for cadmium in rice "in view of the significant contribution towards the PTWI and the risk to consumers." Instead the member states propose to place a maximum level of 0.2 mg/kg cadmium in rice but the community warned that "people who eat a lot of rice from regions containing the higher levels of cadmium could be significantly exposed." Crucially, rice and rice-based products are frequently eaten by young children which may be more at risk due to their proportionately higher intake levels per kg body weight, said Europe. "For example, for cadmium the PTWI is 7 µg/kg body weight, which is 420 µg/ week for an average 60 kg adult and 105 µg/ week for a 15 kg child. If rice contains 0.4 mg/kg cadmium, 100 g rice alone would contribute 10 per cent of the PTWI for the adult and 40 per cent of the PTWI for the child," concludes the group ahead of the 37th Session at the Codex committee on food additives and contaminants next April in The Netherlands.

Codex tackles cadmium levels

Europe tackles levels of cadmium contaminated foods, particularly in children, finding that cereals and vegetables contribute two thirds of the consumption of this toxic heavy metal that can cause kidney disease.

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