Taiwan Agrees on New Maximum Residue Limit for Ractopamine in Beef

Oct. 26, 2012 - PRLog -- Taiwan is the ninth-largest market for U.S beef.  Between 2005 and 2010, imports have increased from US$40 million to US$215 million.  However in 2011, U.S beef imports dropped off sharply by 50% due to a ban on using Ractopamine.  Ractopamine is a beta-agonist which acts as growth promoter in livestock by diverting fat deposits to muscle tissue. The MRL of this compound in beef was disputed a few years ago because of a disagreement between EU and China to establish MRL for Ractopamine at 10 ppb without sufficient risk assessment data.  

To resolve the controversy over the trade of meat containing Ractopamine, Codex Alimentarius Commission made the decision to set a consensus of MRL for Ractopamine at 10 µg/kg in pig and cattle muscle, 40 µg/kg in liver and, 90 µg/kg in animal kidney on 6 July, 2012.  These residue levels have no impact on human health based on scientific risk assessment which was carried out by The Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) (http://www.who.int/foodsafety/chem/jecfa/publications/en/index.html), a group of independent experts convened by the UN food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO).  Recently, the JECFA MRL has been used as the international standard in many countries.  

SGS laboratories can provide the service of Ractopamine testing (http://www.sgs.com/en/Agriculture-Food/Food/Logistics-and-Trade/Testing-and-Analytical-Services/Vetinary-Drug-Residue-Testing.aspx) in meat products by using LC-MS/MS technique in order to obtain the lowest limit of detection with a high degree of confidence regarding the analyst identification.

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Resources:

·      Taiwan Health News Department (http://www.doh.gov.tw/EN2006/DM/DM2_p01.aspx?class_no=387&now_fod_list_no=9073&level_no=1&doc_no=85871)

·      SGS SafeGuardS 022/11 (http://newsletter.sgs.com/eNewsletterPro/uploadedimages/000006/SGS-Safeguards-02211-Raptopamine-contamination-EN-11.pdf)

·      UN Food Safety Body sets limits on veterinary growth (http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/150953/icode/)

For further information please contact the local SGS expert.

Contact details:

SGS Consumer Testing Services

Amornpun Dajsiripun

GCSC Food Specialist- Global Competence Support Center

41/23 Soi Rama III 59 Rama III Road, Chongnonsee

Yannawa

10120 Bangkok

Thailand

t: +66 2 683 0541 ext 2413


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