(fra kommisjonsrekommandasjonen)

(1) The European Food Safety Authority (‘the Authority’) Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain (‘the CONTAM Panel’) adopted an opinion in 2019 on the risks for animal and human health of the presence of quinolizidine alkaloids in feed and food, in particular in lupins and lupin-derived products (1).

(2) The CONTAM Panel identified a lowest single oral effective dose of 0.16 mg sparteine/kg body weight as a reference point to characterise the risk following acute exposure. and considered that no reference point could be identified to characterise the risk of chronic exposure. Due to the limited data on occurrence of quinolizidine alkaloids in lupins and lupin derived foods and on consumption of these foods, dietary exposure was calculated only for some specific scenarios and no full human health risk characterisation was possible. The Authority considered however that the data may indicate a risk to some consumers. Therefore, the CONTAM Panel recommended that more occurrence data should be gathered on the presence of quinolizidine alkaloids in lupins and lupin-derived products.

(3) In addition, more information should be gathered on the factors that lead to relatively high levels of quinolizidine alkaloids in lupins and lupin-derived food, in order to identify the measures to be taken to avoid or reduce the presence of quinolizidine alkaloids in these foodstuffs.

(4) It is therefore appropriate to recommend the monitoring of quinolizidine alkaloids in lupins and lupin-derived food, the identification of the factors resulting in their high levels, and the collection of more information on the effects of processing on the level of quinolizidine alkaloids.