The latest a study into food safety in Australia and New Zealand has found, once again, that the food supplies are safe to eat.
The 25th Australian Total Diet Study (ATDS), released by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ), tested 88 foods for 226 agricultural and veterinary chemicals and four metals: Arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury.
Chief Executive of FSANZ, Mark Booth said the levels of agricultural and veterinary chemicals were found to be generally very low, with a majority of samples having no detectable residues.
“Estimated dietary exposures for all but one chemical were below the relevant acceptable daily intakes (ADIs), indicating no public health and safety concerns,” Mr Booth said.
“Estimated dietary exposure to the insecticide prothiofos exceeded the ADI for some population age groups.”
He said that as a result, FSANZ had informed the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority which subsequently worked with the industry who voluntarily changed the way prothiofos was used to ensure the risk for Australian consumers was acceptably low.
“For metal contaminants, all detections were below the maximum levels set in the Food Standards Code and are consistent with international levels,” Mr Booth said.
He said the estimated dietary exposure to methylmercury (through the consumption of fish) exceeded the provisional tolerable weekly intake for children aged two-to-five years.
“The risks in this case are balanced by the known benefits of fish consumption,” he said.
“FSANZ has published consumer advice to manage dietary exposure to mercury while highlighting the health benefits.”
The 68-page report can be accessed at this PS News link.
