Standards 
and regulations

In this chapter you will read about:

• Standards governing juice composition
and labelling in the US and EU member states. 

• Food standards established by the Codex Alimentarius Commission set up by the FAO and WHO. 

• The problem of orange juice adulteration and why it is still carried out. 

• The measures taken to prevent orange juice adulteration and verify authenticity. 

• The major analytical methods used to detect dulterated juice. 

• Regulations on use of pesticides. 


Summary

In the US, the standards covering the composition of juices and juice products and their labelling are governed by the FDA and USDA. Canada has similar regulations. Oversight of the fruit juice industry in EU countries is by a combination of compulsory directives and recommendations. Other major juice-importing regions also have a mixture of obligatory and voluntary standards to control imported food products. 


Many countries apply the Codex standard on fruit juices established by the Codex Alimentarius Commission. It was set up by the FAO and WHO to protect the health of consumers and to promote international trade in food. 


Combating adulteration 


Because the monetary value of the fruit juice market is so enormous, juice adulteration is common. Most countries implement a number of measures to detect and prevent the adulteration of orange juice and to check the authenticity of its declared origin and content. In Europe, the AIJN Code of Practice provides standards for evaluation of juice identity and authenticity. 


Today, analytical methods can detect all three of the most commonly used juice adulterants – sugar cane, sugar beet and corn syrup. 
 

Regulating pesticide use 


Several types of pesticides are used to protect citrus crops. As pesticides can be harmful to humans their application is closely regulated by government agencies. 


A pesticide – or rather its active substance – is evaluated based on its predicted residues in the fruit and its toxic effect. Its use is permitted if a consumer’s likely intake will be below both the acute reference dose and the acceptable daily intake of the active substance. 


How and when to apply a permitted pesticide is defined in good agricultural practices (GAP). 


11.1
 Standards governing juice composition and labelling

Many countries have several regulations governing fruit juices. These regulations typically cover juice origin, processing methods and composition. Although attempts are continually being made to harmonize the legislation between different global trading blocs to facilitate juice production and trade, several significant differences between regulations still remain. Moreover, regulations will continue to change as world standards evolve.

In the European Union and many other countries, the term orange juice may only be used for juice extracted from sweet oranges, Citrus sinensis. In the US, however, regulations allow for up to 10% of tangerine or hybrid orange/ tangerine juice to be included in orange juice. Also, the Codex standards permit the inclusion of 10% mandarin juices. These juices can improve the colour and flavour of blended juice.

Regulations governing direct juice, or NFC, in principle require that nothing may be removed or added during juice extraction and further processing.

In the US this is interpreted to mean that there may be no removal of water or redilution of NFC, though it is acceptable to remove (and later add back) flavour fractions, for example. Similarly, the Codex standard and revised EU legislation now also allow restoration of flavour and pulp to NFC from the same kind of fruit.

For reconstituted orange juice, water should be added back to the minimum concentration defined in each country’s specific standard. Essences are often added back to restore flavours, and pulp may be added to achieve the desired properties of the final juice product.

The current EU Fruit Juice Directive specifies that orange juice should be extracted by mechanical means only but allows addition of water-extracted juice to juice made from concentrate. This means that pulp wash may be added in-line to the orange juice stream before concentration. However, addition is not permitted to NFC juice. (The previous fruit juice directive of 1993 did not permit water-extracted juice.)

The EU Fruit Juice Directive also now authorizes debittering (removal of limonin) provided it does not significantly affect the composition of other compounds in the orange juice, such as acids and sugars.

These changes align EU regulations more closely with those in the US, Brazil and several other countries where in-line pulp wash addition and debittering are permitted.

EU legislation covering fruit juices and fruit nectars is based on Council Directive 2001/112/EC concerning fruit juices and certain similar products.

Some specific labelling requirements are given in the Fruit Juice Directive. In addition, other EU legislation regulating many types of foods, such as the directives on labelling and additives, also applies to fruit juices.

The fruit juice industries of individual EU countries must follow their own national fruit juice regulations, which incorporate the European Council directives but may contain additional local provisions. Nevertheless, the EU stipulates that national regulations should not include provisions that may create barriers to the free movement of products.

Attempts are continually being made to harmonize the legislation between di erent global trading blocs

The European Fruit Juice Association (AIJN) applies a code of practice in the evaluation of fruit and vegetable juices. This is a more detailed guideline, including figures for a large number of quality, authenticity and identity parameters that the fruit juice industry should adhere to. The AIJN Code of Practice was introduced in 1990 and is used by national food inspections as well as by fruit processors globally.

In the US, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) enforces standards for orange juice identity and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) enforces standards for orange juice grades (quality).

An overview of the most important aspects of legislation in the US, EU and selected other countries is given below. More detailed descriptions can be found in publications listed in section 14 for further reading. 

11.1.1 The US and Canada

US standards governing the composition of juices and juice products are found in FDA regulations entitled Code of Federal Regulations, Title 21. They cover different types of orange juice, namely canned, frozen, pasteurized, from concentrate, frozen concentrate, reduced acid frozen concentrate, orange juices for manufacturing and orange juice with preservatives.

The first six types are sold directly to the consumer, while the standards for orange juice for manufacturing and orange juice with preservatives cover products intended for further processing. In common with orange juice intended for retail, orange juice for manufacturing is derived from unfermented oranges. The difference is that its Brix and Brix/acid ratio may be lower than specified for retail juice.

FDA regulations require that orange juice be obtained from mature oranges of Citrus Sinensis or the citrus hybrid called Ambersweet orange. The juice may include up to 10% juice from tangerines or tangerine/ orange hybrids. In addition, concentrated orange juice may contain 5% juice from bitter oranges (Citrus aurentium). This is not permitted in NFC.

The Ambersweet orange is a crossbreed of one-half sweet orange, three-eighths tangerine and one-eighth grapefruit. It has similar properties to its sweet orange parent. The FDA classified this early-maturing hybrid as an orange in 1992, thereby permitting unrestricted blending with light coloured orange juices. However, it did not gain wide acceptance among the Florida growers.

Adding sweeteners such as sugar or corn syrup to a level normally found in orange juice is permitted for all orange juice products with the exception of reduced acid concentrated orange juice. Any sweetener addition must be clearly declared on the label. The FDA standards also allow for adding orange concentrate to modify the solids content in pasteurized orange juice (up to 25%), with a label statement that the juice is prepared in part from concentrated orange juice.

The success and acceptance of the FDA standards for orange juice identity is evident considering that they have only been amended a few times – primarily to allow the removal of undesirable bitterness and the unrestricted use of juice from the Ambersweet orange. On the other hand, the labelling requirements applicable to fruit juices are subject to frequent revision.

USDA issues the grade standards for fruit juices. Grade standards concern product quality and should therefore be understood by anyone exporting products to the US. The terms “Fancy” or “Grade A” may only be used on products meeting the specifications defined for such grades by the USDA. The current grade standards for orange juice became effective in 1983.

As an example, orange juice produced in Florida must meet the quality requirements shown in Table 11.1 to be labelled USDA Grade A. The quality factors are measured on a 100-point scale. If the total score is above the limit but one of the scores does not meet the Grade A requirements, the juice may not be labelled Grade A. (Table 11.1 concerns orange juice from Florida. Some of the parameters differ for orange juice originating from other states such as California and Arizona.)

In Canada, the Canadian Food and Drugs Regulations include standards for a number of juices including orange. As in the US, the Canadian standards strictly control the composition, quality and labelling of a range of orange juice products.

11.1.2 
The European union

The fruit juice industry in EU countries is subject to compulsory directives and recommendations. A directive is a law drawn up by the European Union that must be incorporated into member states’ national legislation to gain legal force. 

Obligatory regulations 

The obligatory regulations comprise:

1. National fruit juice regulations in force in each specific EU country. 

2. Council Directive 2001/112/EC covering fruit juic-
es and certain similar products. It was published
in 2001 and fully implemented by member states
in July 2003 (replacing Directive 93/77/EEC). It has been revised four times to adapt it to industry practices and take into account the Codex Standard for fruit juices issued in 2005. In many cases, national fruit juice regulations are similar in content to the EU Fruit Juice Directive. 


The EU Fruit Juice Directive covers these main areas:

• Definitions of products and authorized processes and treatments during their manufacture 

• Permitted ingredients 

• Certainlabellingrequirementsforrawmaterialand 
final products 


Fruit juice is defined as the product obtained from fruit, fermentable but unfermented, possessing the characteristic colour, flavour and taste typical of the fruit from which it comes. In citrus fruits, only the endocarp (the edible portion of the fruit) may be used for juice extraction. Flavour, pulp and cells obtained from the same species of fruit may be restored to the juice. In the past, flavours had to come from the same juice. 


The term “fruit juice” refers only to juice that has not been concentrated (NFC or direct juice). Reconstituted juice is referred to as fruit juice from concentrate. This product must have sensory and analytical characteristics at least equivalent to those of an average type of juice obtained from the same kind of fruit. 


Only certain ingredients and additives may be added to orange juice. The addition of vitamins and minerals is permitted in some EU countries, and under the Fruit Juice Directive EU countries may follow different rules provided that it does not prevent free movement of products within the EU. Harmonized regulations regarding addition of vitamins and minerals to fruit juice are proposed to be part of horizontal legislation on food additives. 


The current EU Fruit Juice Directive 2001/112/EC allows the addition of pulp wash to orange juice made from concentrate but not to direct juice. It also permits the removal of limonin from orange juice.

The directive permitted sugar addition in fruit juices until 2012, when this provision was removed to align the directive with the current industry practice of never adding sugar to juices. As a consequence, juice packers may no longer state “no sugar added” on juice labels, as they frequently did in the past.

Up to 3 g/l of lemon or lime juice may be added to regulate acidity. There is no requirement to state this on retail packages.

The 2001 directive is structured to reduce overlap with other EU legislations such as the labelling directive (2000/13/EC) and regulations on food additives (1925/2006 and 133/2008). The EU Fruit Juice Directive is a vertical directive, while the trend is towards horizontal directives that can be applied more generally and for multiple foodstuffs.

Recommended guidelines

The fruit juice industry in EU countries is guided by both compulsory directives and recommendations

The independent European Fruit Juice Association (AIJN), based in Brussels, issues recommended guidelines for orange juice. These are part of a complete “code of practice for the evaluation of fruit and vegetable juices”, which is regularly updated by an AIJN expert committee. Its members are selected for their expertise and come from different countries, fruit juice companies, institutes and laboratories. The AIJN Code of Practice includes local quality and authenticity standards from various European countries.

The AIJN Code of Practice states the following with regard to orange juice:

• Orange juice is obtained from mature and sound fruit, extracted by mechanical processes and is treated by physical means
• Orange juice is produced from Citrus sinensis (L) Osbeck and includes blood oranges
• Fruit flesh (floating cells, coarse pulp) may be re-added to juice
• Only treatments and processes regulated by the EU Fruit Juice Directive are permitted

The AIJN Code of Practice includes reference guidelines on what is considered an acceptable juice from different fruits. The guidelines contain absolute requirements as regards the quality of a juice, as well as criteria to be used to verify the identity and authenticity of juice from a specific fruit.

The reference guidelines for orange juice were revised in 2016. Absolute requirements for some of the quality parameters are shown in Table 11.2.

11.1.3 
Other major regions and countries

Other major juice importing regions also have a mixture of obligatory and voluntary standards to control imported food products. A general trend can be seen to harmonize food laws in regions where there is trade cooperation, such as in the South American Mercosur trade bloc of which Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Venezuela and Bolivia are members. Another example is the Gulf Standards for Foods issued by the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC). The GCC comprises Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain and Qatar.

China adapted its National Food Safety Standards for orange juice and concentrated orange juice in 2008 to correspond to the Codex Standard for fruit juices (247-2005). All imported foodstuffs must comply with the Chinese National Food Safety Standards, which were further tightened in the 2015 Food Safety Law to include more stringent requirements on inspection of imported foods. In 2014, the country issued its first national standard for fruit and vegetable drinks. The standard is non-compulsory.

Japan, like China a large orange juice importer, has standards covering additives, labelling requirements, purity criteria and testing methods. There is no standard of composition, so juice imports to Japan are not restricted by minimum levels of fruit content. In practice, however, Japanese Agricultural Standards are used to guarantee the quality of both imported and domestic processed foods.

Where national fruit juice standards do not exist, most countries will normally accept products that comply with standards drawn up by the Codex Alimentarius Commission. These are described in the next section.

11.1.4
 Fruit juice standards of codex alimentarius

The Codex Alimentarius, or “Food Code”, is a collection of standards, guidelines and codes of practice adopted by the Codex Alimentarius Commission. The commission is a joint body set up by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO) in 1963 to implement the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme. Its purpose is to protect the health of consumers, to ensure fair practices in the food trade and to promote international trade in food. Thus, Codex standards are developed to ensure that food is safe and can be traded.

Today, Codex has 188 member countries (plus the EU) representing 99.8% of the world’s population. Members take part in establishing standards for commodity foods and subjects of general nature, such as hygiene and contamination.

Standards were initially established for each food, but Codex increasingly now develops standards for food groups. As ever more foods are traded internationally, this approach helps to ease the Codex Commission’s workload. An example is the General Standard for Fruit Juices and Nectars published in 2005, which replaced no less than 25 individual standards for specific fruit juice products.

The standard for fruit juices and nectars (CODEX STAN 247-2005) governs orange juice and orange nectars. It defines the juice products and specifies which fruit species may be used for individual juices. The standard specifies for each fruit the minimum Brix level for reconstituted juice and the lowest juice content in nectar. The standard also lays out permitted ingredients and processing aids, as well as labelling rules and the relevant analytical methods to verify quality or authenticity.

Regulations on topics such as food additives, pesticide residues and hygiene are covered in other Codex standards or in the recommended code of practice issued by Codex which also applies to other foods.

Fruit juice is defined as the liquid obtained from the edible part of mature and fresh fruit, or fruit that is kept in sound condition. In the latter case the fruit surface may be treated with permitted substances. The juice may contain restored aroma components, up to normal levels, as well as added pulp. Both the added pulp and aroma must come from the same kind of fruit.

The term “fruit juice” refers only to juice directly expressed by mechanical extraction processes (NFC or direct juice). Codex follows EU legislation in referring to reconstituted juice as fruit juice from concentrate.

The concentrate should be made from juice prepared by suitable processes that maintain the important characteristics of the fruit, thus keeping its physical and nutritional qualities. The concentrate may include pulp wash, provided that the washed solids are added in-line to the primary juice before concentration.

Orange juice must come from sweet oranges, Citrus sinensis, but may include up to 10% juice from tangerines and orange/tangerine hybrids, subject to national legislation in the importing country. The Brix level of reconstituted orange juice should be in the 11.2 -11.8 °Brix range. Countries where orange juice is consistently below this range may export juice of lower Brix, although not below 10 °Brix.

Vitamins and minerals may be added to fortify fruit juices and should be declared on the label, in compliance with Codex guidelines on claims and nutritional labelling.

The Codex fruit juice standard permits the addition of sugar to all fruit juices. Only crystalline, or dry, sugars may be added to NFC. Liquid syrups may be added to juices made from concentrate. Sugar addition must be labelled and permitted in the legislation of the importing country (which is no longer the case in the European Union). It is permissible to acidify fruit juices by adding organic acids or lemon juice, up to 3 g/l. However, adding both sugars and acidifying agents to the same fruit juice is prohibited.

Moreover, Codex authorizes the addition of chemical preservatives (benzoates and sorbates) to fruit juices, subject to national laws in the importing country. Chemical preservatives are prohibited in juices in the EU Fruit Juice Directive and much national legislation.

The Codex standards and other texts issued by the Codex Alimentarius Commission are voluntary in nature. They need to be translated into national legislation or regulations to be legally enforceable. In many countries, the Codex standards serve as a basis for national legislation or as an addition to national law. Trade blocs like the European Union also consider Codex standards when drawing up their own legislation.

11.2 
The problem of adulteration and food fraud

The monetary value of the fruit juice market is so great that juice adulteration is a frequent problem.. For orange juice, adulteration means the addition of non-orange materials to products that are labelled and sold as orange juice. The value of orange juice is such that even modest adulteration can result in large profits, something which encourages fraud among both producers and those handling concentrate for reconstitution and packaging. Any importing country can be affected, particularly when orange juice is in short supply.

In most cases, juice adulteration is a problem of fraudulent practice rather than health risk. Although adulteration may reduce juice quality slightly, poor processing conditions can diminish quality to a similar degree. The issue relates to the fact that an unscrupulous person can make a lot of money by adding cheap materials such as sugar, acid and colour to juice to cheat the consumer into overpaying for what is thought to be a premium product. When quality checks are inadequate or unenforced, this inevitably leads to a greater degree of adulteration.

Regulatory authorities should protect consumers from such fraud by using their power to ensure strict control of the composition, quality and labelling of orange juice. Adulteration is considered deplorable by the responsible authorities in every producing country and import nation. Most take active steps to discover and prevent it and to ensure that orange juice complies with applicable standards. The path taken by regulatory bodies is essentially to make adulteration so expensive that it is no longer attractive.

It should also be noted that adulteration cannot be considered contamination. Unlike contamination, which is often harmful to health, the materials unlawfully added to juice are so like the juice’s natural constituents that they cannot be regarded as contaminants in the accepted sense.

Orange juice adulteration relates to the addition of ingredients not derived from citrus fruit. These include water, sucrose and citric acid added to maintain soluble-solids content. The term “sophistication” is used to describe the use of other citrus products to extend or attempt to mimic genuine juice. Addition of non-orange citrus juices, orange pulp wash and other matter derived from peel, rag or seeds constitutes sophistication.

11.2.1 
Protecting the consumer

A number of measures are taken to prevent the adulteration of orange juice and verify the authenticity of its declared origin and content. Producing countries, aware of the damage that adulteration can do to the legitimate trade, carry out various inspection and control procedures. Companies that buy orange juice products try to purchase only through reliable suppliers known to have a good reputation.

To protect buyers, suppliers and, above all, the consumer the fruit juice industry has established several voluntary control systems covering the entire supply chain. One example is SGF International e.V. This non-profit organization was originally set up by the German juice association to monitor consumer products but is today active worldwide, making inspections at every production step – from raw material to finished good. SGF and IRMA, its subsidiary for international raw material assurance, are continually expanding their membership throughout the juice supply chain and currently have some 350 raw material suppliers in 60 countries among their members.

By joining the industrial self-control system, members allow SGF auditors to freely inspect their plants and take samples from ongoing production for analysis at certified laboratories. The system enables traceability and supplier certification.

Another organization for industrial self-control is the European quality control system for juices and nectars (EQCS). It was founded by the European Fruit Juice Association (AIJN) as an umbrella organization for bottler control systems in Europe. Members of these control systems produce more than 85% of all fruit juices and nectars in the EU.

The AIJN Code of Practice provides the framework for the quality and authenticity testing parameters used by EQCS and its European member systems, as well as by SGF.

Several local standards, such as the RSK values in Germany, the old AFNOR standards in France and the quality criteria in the Netherlands have been incorporated in the AIJN Code of Practice. These old standards are not updated and have become obsolete.

11.2.2 
Telling wrong from right

As orange juice adulteration has grown increasingly sophisticated, analytical methods needed to detect fraud have been developed to reveal specific types of adulteration. These analytical methods can be divided into four main groups.

1. Simple physical measurements such as weight, volume, density, acidity, purity and sample concentration. These measurements do little to prove the authenticity of the product but do give an indication of the value or price of the commodity tested. 

2. Comparing the analytical composition of samples with reference standards. Typical parameters include flavour profiles and the content of different sugars, organic acids, amino acids and trace elements. Spectrographic adsorption patterns derived from visible light, ultraviolet light and fluorescent measurements are important for providing “fingerprints” of orange juice samples. The method is useful but has limitations. Notably, the pattern for authentic products varies to an unacceptable degree and can often be matched by adulterators adding appropriate “cocktails” to adulterated orange juice. 

3. Testing for components that are not normally present in orange juice, or only present in trace amounts. Such components include natural or artificial flavours, D-malic or D-amino acids (as opposed to their common L-counterparts), synthetic intermediates or catalysts, preservatives like benzoates, and others. If these substances are detected in above-accepted levels, it is usually good evidence of adulteration. Nevertheless, skilled adulterators are known to use pure or modified additives that can mislead analysts and their instruments. 

4. Isotopic fingerprinting of sugar content. The high price of natural juice creates a considerable financial incentive to adulterate orange juice by adding sugar from sugar cane and sugar beet, or corn syrup. Isotopic techniques can now tell the differences between these sugars by analyzing their carbon content. 


Isotope analysis 

The carbon atom exists in two different isotopes: ¹²C, which has a natural abundance of 98.89%, and ¹³C, the heavier isotope with a natural abundance of 1.11%. During photosynthesis, plants discriminate against ¹³C. The degree of depletion of ¹³C in plant tissue as a result of this depends on how a plant extracts carbon dioxide from the air. As the orange plant extracts its carbon differently from sugar cane and maize, the relative proportions of ¹²C and ¹³C in these plant tissues

also differ. This fact can be used to trace the origin of sugar with the help of carbon stable isotope ratio analysis (CSIRA), and hence to determine whether juice has been adulterated by adding either cane sugar or high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).

The value of juice is such that even modest adulteration can generate large profits

A trickier problem is to tell the difference between natural orange sugars and sugar from sugar beet, as both these plants extract carbon dioxide from air in exactly the same way. However, the position of the ¹³C atom in the sugar molecule does differ between the two sugar sources. This can be detected using site-specific natural isotopic fractionation measured by nuclear magnetic resonance (SNIF-NMR). As a result, it is now possible to detect all three of the most commonly used sugar adulterants.

11.3
 Pesticides for crop protection

It is common agricultural practice to use pesticides to protect crops from weeds that compete with the valuable food, and to combat plant diseases and harmful insects. As pesticide is a broad term covering many applications, the chemicals used specifically to protect crops are sometimes termed “plant protection products”.

Several types of pesticide are commonly used in orange groves and their use has intensified in many regions due to the increase in diseases affecting citrus trees. Pesticides are closely regulated by government agencies because their use can be harmful to humans. It is therefore important that everyone involved in the orange juice supply chain is aware of the applicable regulations.

Regulatory approval

Pesticides, or plant protection products, contain one or several active substances that exert the desired function, be it killing weeds or repelling insects. Regulations require that each active substance is deemed safe to humans before it can be used. Approval is linked to the specific commodity, for example oranges.

The rules focus on the traces, or residues, that pesticides leave in treated products. The evaluation and approval process for an active substance addresses the expected maximum residue level (MRL) in the treated food and whether this level is safe for consumers considering the toxicity of the substance and the intake of other treated foods in a typical diet.

Expected residues are determined experimentally when the pesticide is applied according to good agricultural practice (GAP) for the specific crop. The GAP document specifies parameters like treatment frequency, pesticide quantity and plant growth stage at the time of application.

Safe limits

Maximum residue limits, or tolerances (the term used in the US), are set using assessments of probable shortand long-term toxicology based on animal studies. The process involves calculating an acute reference dose (ARfD) and an acceptable daily intake (ADI). The ARfD reflects the risks resulting from short-term consumption of a high level of the pesticide. The ADI expresses risk factors associated with lower-level consumption over the course of a lifetime.

A consumer’s likely intake of the active substance is estimated by combining “model diets” with chemical residue readings taken from crops during field trials. The data is compared to the ADI and ARfD for different consumer groups (adults, children and babies). If estimated intake is well below ADI and ARfD limits, the pesticide can be considered safe for the food in question and the MRL is adopted. However, the MRL is rejected if estimated intake exceeds the limits.

Setting MRLs requires extensive scientific studies. Pesticide companies and other applicants must submit a wide variety of data and toxicological studies for review when seeking registration of their product.

When adopted, the MRL is published by the relevant legal body. MRL tables are regularly updated and can be found on the websites of the regulatory authority. The EU pesticide database currently lists MRLs for more than 400 substances applicable to orange fruit. Residue levels for orange juice and other processed fruits are planned for inclusion in the regulation on pesticide MRLs (EC 396/2005, Annex VI) but are not yet available. The way oranges are processed means that only a small fraction of the pesticide residues present on the fruit skin is transferred into the juice.

It is only permissible to use pesticides assigned with MRLs. In the EU, it is general practice for a default value of 0.010 mg/kg to apply if no MRL has been set for the pesticide’s use with a particular food.

In the fruit industry, the general trend is to employ pesticides that pose less threat to consumers’ health or the environment. In the EU in particular, approvals for some older pesticides have been withdrawn and these chemicals can no longer be used.

One weakness of the current regulations is that MRLs are for individual active substances and do not take into account potential “cocktail effects” when several pesticides are present in the same food, as is often the case. Further research is required to understand the effects of multiple residues.

Regulating pesticide use 

Pesticides are well regulated because they pose a risk to public health. In Europe, the European Commission and European Food Standards Authority (EFSA) are responsible for pesticide legislation (Regulation EC/396/2005). The European Commission sets MRLs for all food and animal feed, based on EFSA’s risk assessments. However, each country is free to define how and when the pesticide may be used as local environmental conditions and the occurrence of pests (and hence pesticide use) may differ.

In the US, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for pesticide registration and use approval as well as for setting tolerance limits. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is tasked with verifying that foods produced in the US or imported from other countries comply with the legislation. Registered substances are published in the Code of Federal Regulations (40 CFR 180). The EPA may issue emergency exemptions for pesticide uses for a limited time. For example, the EPA approved the use of antibiotics in citrus groves in Florida in 2017 to combat the citrus greening disease.

Two bodies overseen by the WHO and FAO – the Codex Committee for Pesticide Residues (CCPR) and the WHO/FAO Joint Expert Meeting on Pesticide Residues (JMPR) – oversee worldwide residue limits and support the WTO on international food trade issues in this field.