(1)

The food industry, the Member States and the Commission have undertaken extensive efforts since 2002 in order to investigate pathways of formation and to reduce the levels of acrylamide in processed foods.

(2)

The organisation FoodDrinkEurope, which represents the European food and drink industry, developed a ‘toolbox’ (1) containing tools that can be used selectively by food producers in line with their particular needs to lower acrylamide levels in their products. In addition short brochures containing information about the most important tools for each sector were developed. That activity was supported by and contributed to by regulators.

(3)

Acrylamide levels in some foodstuffs appeared to be significantly higher than the levels in comparable products of the same product category. Therefore the Commission considered it appropriate that Member States’ competent authorities carry out investigations by examining the production and processing methods used by food business operators. To that end, the Commission adopted on 10 January 2011 a Recommendation on investigations into the levels of acrylamide in food (2) (‘the 2011 Recommendation’).

(4)

Pursuant to the 2011 Recommendation, Member States are encouraged to carry out investigations if the acrylamide level found in a specific foodstuff exceeds the indicative values set out in the Annex to that Recommendation.

(5)

Acrylamide levels in food have been monitored by Member States from 2007 to 2009 pursuant to Commission Recommendation 2007/331/EC (3), and as from 2010 pursuant to Commission Recommendation 2010/307/EU (4). That monitoring exercise is targeted to those foodstuffs that are known to contain high acrylamide levels and/or contribute significantly to the human dietary intake.

(6)

The monitoring results for the years 2007 to 2010 have been compiled by the European Food Safety Authority (‘EFSA’) in the Scientific Report on ‘Update on acrylamide levels in food from monitoring years 2007-2010’ (5) of 18 October 2012. EFSA concluded that there was no consistent trend across food groups towards lower levels of acrylamide and that a decrease in acrylamide levels was shown in only a few food categories while in other food categories an increase in the levels could be observed.

(7)

On the basis of the results of the investigations obtained during the years 2011 and 2012 and on the basis of the monitoring results obtained pursuant to Recommendations 2007/331/EC and 2010/307/EU, it is appropriate to modify certain indicative values provided for in the Annex to the 2011 Recommendation.

(8)

The 2011 Recommendation should therefore be replaced by a new Recommendation.

(9)

Investigations should continue to include the food business operator’s Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) or a similar system (6) with a view to exploring with the food business operator whether relevant processing steps susceptible for the formation of acrylamide have been identified and whether appropriate measures have been taken to control them. In doing so, the competent authorities should assess the extent to which currently known options for the minimisation of acrylamide levels, e.g. those proposed in the Code of Practice for acrylamide adopted by the Codex Alimentarius Commission and in the acrylamide ‘toolbox’ developed by FoodDrinkEurope, have been implemented by the food business operator.

(10)

Indicative values set by this Recommendation are only intended to indicate the need for an investigation. They are not safety thresholds. Therefore, enforcement action and/or the issuing of a Rapid Alert should only be undertaken on the basis of a sound risk assessment carried out on a case by case basis, but not merely because an indicative value is exceeded.

(11)

On the basis of the results of the investigations obtained during the years 2013 and 2014 pursuant to this Recommendation and on the basis of the monitoring results obtained pursuant to Recommendation 2010/307/EU and the outcome of the updated risk assessment performed by the EFSA on the presence of acrylamide in food, the Commission will assess the situation after an EFSA risk assessment becomes available and decide about the need for other appropriate measures,