Comment period on EU’s new proposal to limit MOAH in food ends soon

Mineral oil hydrocarbons (MOH) are a group of chemical compounds that originate primarily from crude petroleum and are generally categorised into mineral oil saturated hydrocarbons (MOSH) - which tend to accumulate in the body with relatively lower toxicity - and mineral oil aromatic hydrocarbons (MOAH), which may include potentially carcinogenic substances.

MOH food contamination can occur through multiple pathways, with potential sources including lubricants used in agricultural or food-processing equipment, technological aids such as release agents or dust suppressants, specific food or feed additives, migration from food-contact materials and environmental exposure.

On 11 March, the EU notified the World Trade Organization (WTO) of a draft regulation setting maximum levels (MLs) for MOAH in certain foods from 1 January 2027 including oilseeds, oil fruits, animal and vegetable fats and oils, tree nuts, pulses, cereal grains, milk, dairy products, cocoa beans and cocoa products, confectionery, spices, dried herbs, teas, foods for infants and young children, food supplements and food additives.

Food business operators would need to strengthen MOAH monitoring and mitigation across the entire supply chain, including processing and food contact materials, to comply with the new limits, ChemLinked wrote on 12 March.

According to a 6 March European Commission Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document on the proposal to amend EU regulation 2023/915, MLs for MOAH in food will be established in accordance with the ALARA (as low as reasonably achievable) principle, when following good practices at all stages of the production.

The proposal sets minimum enforceable MLs based on fat/oil content when the calculated MOAH ML for a food is too low to be reliably measured in practice. For:

(a) Low-fat foods (<4% fat/oil): If the calculated ML is below 0.50 mg/kg, it is rounded up to 0.50 mg/kg.

(b) Medium-fat foods (4–50% fat/oil): If the calculated ML is below 1.0 mg/kg, it is increased to 1.0 mg/kg.

(c) High-fat foods (>50% fat/oil): If the calculated ML is below 2.0 mg/kg, it is increased to 2.0 mg/kg.

The maximum levels were established based on the 2023 European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) updated risk assessment of mineral oil hydrocarbons in food, FoodIntel wrote on 13 March.

Although EFSA determined that MOSH could accumulate in specific organs, current dietary exposure levels were not considered a health concern for any age group, the report said.

However, MOAH containing three or more aromatic rings could pose genotoxic and carcinogenic risks.

With the deadline for comments on the proposed regulation drawing nearer, an industry leader in the Philippines coconut sector told BusinessMirror that the new levels could impact crude coconut oil exports to the EU, the leading buyer of Philippine coconut oil.

In the 8 April report, United Coconut Association of the Philippines (UCAP) chairman Marco Reyes said: “The most affected product will be crude coconut oil (CNO), which comes from copra, where MOAH contamination results largely from the smoke-drying process and delivery activities to the oil mill.”

More than 60% of crude coconut oil exports from the Philippines go to the EU, Reyes added.

Reyes said only a few crude coconut oil exporters were compliant with MOAH limits to the EU, with others struggling to comply due to the laboratory equipment being costly and difficult to operate.

While raising concerns over making the entire industry MOAH-compliant, shipments of coconut milk, virgin coconut oil and coconut water were not easily contaminated by MOAH as the whole de-husked nuts were delivered to the factory, he added.

“The difficulty right now is in transforming the whole CNO sector to be MOAH compliant,” he said. “We are talking about 2.6M coconut farmers.”