Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER
1
INTRODUCTION: BASIC PRINCIPLES OF ASSAYS TO
BE COVERED, SAMPLE HANDLING, AND
SAMPLE PROCESSING
WANLONG ZHOU, EUGENE Y. CHANG, and PERRY G. WANG
1.1
INTRODUCTION
1.1.1 Current Situation and Challenges of Food Safety and Regulations
Food can never be entirely safe. In recent years, food safety concern has grown
signi
cantly following a number of highly publicized incidents worldwide. These
incidents include bovine spongiform encephalopathy in beef and benzene in carbon-
ated drinks in the United Kingdom, dioxins in pork and milk products in Belgium,
pesticides in contaminated foods in Japan, tainted coca-cola in Belgium and France,
melamine in milk products in China, salmonella in peanuts and pistachios in the
U.S. [1], and phthalates in drinks and foods in Taiwan [2]. Governments all over
the world have taken many measures to increase food safety, resulting in a marked
increase in the number of regulated compounds.
The European Union (EU) made a considerable effort to centralize food regulatory
powers. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the national competent
authorities are networks for food safety. The European Commission has designated
food safety as a top priority, and published a white paper on food safety [3].
Legislative documents, such as 657/2002/EC, which sets out performance criteria
for veterinary drug residue methods, are published as European Commission
Decisions [4].
The Japanese government implemented a
to regulate the use of
pesticides, veterinary drugs, and other chemicals in 2006, which replaced the old
“
“
positive list
”
regulations [5]. Over 700 compounds have to be monitored and
reported. A certi
negative list
”
ed safety report is now a requirement for both importing and
exporting countries. The new regulations are listed as addendums to the positive list.
In Japan, strengthening regulations for industrial use of per
uorooctane sulfonate
(PFOS) and per
uorooctanoate (PFOA), additives, and residual pharmaceutical and
personal care products (PPCPs) in the environment is progressing, which in turn
creates a demand for instrumentation that provides reliable trace determination.
