Source: European Parliament
Regulation (EU) 2023/915[1] sets maximum levels (MLs) at EU level for 4 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and for the sum of them in foods of animal origin[2], including eggs.
The enforcement of EU food safety rules is under the responsibility of the Member States. In this context, the Commission has adopted Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/931[3] and Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/932[4], setting out rules on the combinations of contaminants and commodity groups (including PFAS in eggs) to be sampled by the Member States and the sampling strategy, to ensure that they are efficiently targeted in all Member States.
Furthermore, Recommendation (EU) 2022/1431[5] advises that Member States monitor between 2022 and 2025 a wide range of PFAS in a wide range of foods, including eggs. Once these data are available, discussions will follow on the need for possible new or lowered MLs for PFAS in food.
Free range chickens ingest soil and earthworms, which can contain PFAS. Commercially produced eggs from free range chickens, which are placed on the market, need to comply with the relevant MLs.
Eggs that are produced by home grown chickens for home consumption do not fall under these obligations as they are not placed on the market and are therefore not controlled for their PFAS concentration.
Private laying hen keepers do not usually know whether their garden is polluted with PFAS, and they tend to consume a large amount of these eggs.
Therefore, Member States’ recommendations to consume less or no home-grown eggs can be justified, depending on the information on possible soil pollution available to the Member States.
- [1] Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/915 of 25 April 2023 on maximum levels for certain contaminants in food and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006. OJ L 119, 5.5.2023, p. 103, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/915/oj.
- [2] PFOS: perfluorooctane sulfonic acid; PFOA: perfluorooctanoic acid; PFNA: perfluorononanoic acid; PFHxS: perfluorohexane sulfonic acid.
- [3] Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/931 of 23 March 2022 supplementing Regulation (EU) 2017/625 of the European Parliament and of the Council by laying down rules for the performance of official controls as regards contaminants in food. OJ L 162, 17.6.2022, p. 7-12 ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_del/2022/931/oj.
- [4] Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/932 of 9 June 2022 on uniform practical arrangements for the performance of official controls as regards contaminants in food, on specific additional content of multi-annual national control plans and specific additional arrangements for their preparation. OJ L 162, 17.6.2022, p. 13-22. ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2022/932/oj.
- [5] Commission Recommendation (EU) 2022/1431 of 24 August 2022 on the monitoring of perfluoroalkyl substances in food. OJ L221/105, 26.8.2022, P.105 ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reco/2022/1431/oj.