ANALYSIS OF THE INCIDENCE OF FOREIGN BODIES IN EUROPEAN FOODS

Abstract

This paper contains a comprehensive review of different types of foreign matter reported in Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) during the period 2016 – 2018. It provides information on incidents of foreign matter contamination discussed and mined in terms of types of foreign bodies, food products involved and geographic distribution within indicated European regions. By analysing the presence of foreign bodies in different European regions (Eastern, Northern, Southern, Western Europe), we found, by means of statistical evaluation, that there were differences in some of the data obtained with respect to the country reporting a foreign body. We found that plastic, glass and metal were the most commonly reported in Western Europe, pests and rubber in Northern Europe. As far as food commodities are concerned, bakery and confectionery products, fruit and vegetables and convenience foods were most frequently reported and the notifications came most often from Western Europe. Notifications from this part of Europe were made with regard to other monitored commodities as well. Regarding the notification type, the most frequent one was an alert and, in the case of a risk decision, serious risk constituted the largest part.