The 12th Session of the Codex Committee on Contaminants in Foods (CCCF) was held from 12 to 16 March 2018.
During this session, the revision of the maximum levels for lead in foodstuffs whose wine has been discussed.
The working group recommended lowering the current Codex limit for lead in wines from 0.20mg/kg to 0.05mg/kg.
The International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) present at this meeting notified the CCCF of some problems in establishing this new limit.
On the one hand, data obtained on drinks other than grape wines were used and the specific characteristics of fortified wines were not taken into account.
The Organisation also indicated that the introduction of such a strict limit would have a strong impact on international trade.
The application of this limit would eliminate 3% of commercial wines and 24% of fortified wines.
Following these elements brought by the OIV, the CCCF decided to postpone this discussion until next year’s session in order to take into account the case of fortified wines.
At present, EU regulations and the OIV set a lead limit for wines at 0.15mg/kg.
You will find the summary of this discussion via the link below :
Request for comments at steps 3 and 6 on proposed draft and draft maximum levels of lead in selected commodities in the General Standard for Contaminants and Toxins in food and feed (CX/CF 18/12/5)
Please note that our laboratory carries out lead analysis in wines with a LQ of 0.01mg/kg.
For any technical, pricing and/or regulatory information, please do not hesitate to contact us.
