Deadline: 31 March 2027
Request for data on total aflatoxins in cereals and cereal-based products: maize grain; flour, meal, semolina and flakes derived from maize; husked and polished rice; sorghum grain destined for further processing; wheat; other cereals (barley, buckwheat, millet, oats, rye, spelt, quinoa) and cereal-based foods for infants and young children.
Background
The 19th Session of the Codex Committee on Contaminants in Foods (CCCF19, 2026) agreed to request the JECFA Secretariat to issue a call for data on aflatoxins in cereals and cereal-based products, including foods for infants and young children.
The General Standard for contaminants and toxins in food and feed (CXS 193-1995) includes Maximum Levels (MLs) for total aflatoxins in maize grain; flour, meal, semolina and flakes derived from maize; husked and polished rice; sorghum grain destined for further processing; and cereal-based foods for infants and young children.
During its 18th Session, held in Bangkok, Thailand, in June 2025, the CCCF18 considered an analysis of occurrence data on aflatoxins in cereals prepared by the JECFA Secretariat (CX/CF 25/18/19). In addition to commodities for which MLs are currently established in CXS 193, the analysis included occurrence data for wheat and other cereals, including barley, buckwheat, millet, oats, rye, spelt and quinoa.
This call aims to obtain new occurrence data collected from 1 January 2016 onwards.
The data obtained through this call will support CCCF in: 1) verifying whether the currently established limits remain adequate or require revision; and 2) assessing the need for, and feasibility of, establishing MLs for additional cereals, particularly wheat and other cereals for which no ML is currently established in CXS 193-1995. The focus of the work will be reviewing data since 2022, the year of adoption of MLs for total aflatoxins in certain cereals and cereal-based products and to verify the feasibility of establishing ML for total aflatoxins other cereals.
Accordingly, new occurrence data collected from 1 January 2022 onwards on total aflatoxins in the following commodities are requested:
- Maize grain (LOQ ≤ 1.5 µg/kg);
- Flour, meal, semolina and flakes derived from maize (LOQ ≤ 1.0 µg/kg);
- Husked rice (LOQ ≤ 2.0 µg/kg);
- Polished rice (LOQ ≤ 0.5 µg/kg);
- Sorghum grain destined for further processing (LOQ ≤ 1.0 µg/kg); and
- Cereal-based foods for infants and young children (LOQ ≤ 0.5 µg/kg).
Additionally, occurrence data collected from 1 January 2016 onwards on total aflatoxins in the following commodities are requested:
- Wheat and derived products such as flour (LOQ ≤ 5 µg/kg);
- Other cereals, including barley, buckwheat, millet, oats, rye, spelt and quinoa (LOQ ≤ 5 µg/kg).
The LOQs indicated above refer to each of the aflatoxin congeners included in the MLs for total aflatoxins, namely aflatoxin B1, B2, G1 and G2. For commodities for which MLs are currently established in CXS 193-1995, data generated using analytical methods with LOQs at or below the values indicated above are preferred to support the assessment of compliance with the existing MLs. For commodities for which no ML is currently established, namely wheat and the other cereals listed above, data generated using analytical methods with LOQs at or below 5 µg/kg are preferred to provide sufficiently sensitive occurrence data to support the evaluation of the need for and feasibility of establishing MLs. All data submitted, within this specific reporting period, regardless of LOQ, will be considered in the data analysis taking into account their analytical suitability and data quality.
Deadline for the submission of data is 31 March 2027.
This deadline applies to all data to be submitted.
Data should be submitted as indicated below, to allow CCCF time for data analysis. The call for data can also be viewed online at:
FAO: https://www.fao.org/food-safety/scientific-advice/calls-for-data-and-experts/en
All new data must be uploaded in the GEMS database, which is easily accessible on the web. To access the GEMS database, go to https://extranet.who.int/gemsfood/Default.aspx#.
To submit data, you will need an account. Instructions on creating an account are found on the website. For technical questions about submitting data to GEMS, please contact Dr Luc Ingenbleek at WHO (ingenbleekl@who.int). Please read the “GEMS/Food Database Manual” before attempting to submit data to GEMS.
When submitting data to the GEMS/Food database for this work, it would be helpful if the following optional information is included, where available:
- Information to differentiate between maize for food or feed. If the data is for feed, samples can be mapped as generic “animal feed” and details about the type of feed can be added in the Local food identifier or Remarks.
- Information to differentiate between husked rice intended for direct consumption (“ready-to-eat”) and for further processing into polished rice;
- In addition, following this indication, the country of origin (if known and the food is imported) should be also indicated in the ‘Remarks/references’ field in order to help assess the geographic representativeness of the data.
- As always, provide the following information, where available:
- Information in the “Local Food Identifier” or “Notes” fields of the database to allow more specific identification of samples, e.g., Is a food fresh or processed (e.g. fermented, dried / dehydrated, chips, boiled, flour, etc.);
- Information on “State of Food Analysed” e.g., cooked or raw (column S);
- Information on the LOQ and/or LOD of analytical methods;
- Information for identification of the samples (serial number).