Second update of the EU database of processing factors for pesticide residues

The existing EU database of processing factors for pesticide residues is updated and extended. All processing studies, which have recently been submitted on EU level, are incorporated, as well as studies from other sources. All processing studies are re-evaluated in accordance with the compendium of representative processing techniques and the quality criteria already used for the development of the first version of the database, such as the representativeness of processing conditions, the suitability and validity of analytical methods, the stability of samples during storage prior to analysis and GLP certification.

Different sources of processing factors were explored in the project: Studies submitted on EU level, studies available in Member State Authorities only, and studies reported by JMPR. No information was made available by food industry from internal quality controls. It can be expected that a large proportion of the total available processing studies/information is now available in the database. The new, extended version contains 2651 studies, 17937 individual and 4229 median processing factors, all having been evaluated according to up-to-date residue definitions and storage stability information. The reliability of processing studies and processing factors derived from the studies was judged by making use of a well-proven set of quality criteria already applied in the EU database. The database was also extended by information if the treatment of the raw agricultural commodity which was used in the processing study occurred pre- or post-harvest. The situations ‘pre-harvest treatment’, ‘post-harvest treatment’ and ‘spiked’ are distinguished and indicated for each processing trial. During the project, not only the database itself, but also the three supporting documents were updated and published on EFSAshort forEuropean Food Safety Authority's knowledge junction zenodo: Compendium of Representative Processing Techniques Investigated in Regulatory Studies for Pesticides (Version 3): DOI 10.5281/zenodo.6564207Linking Processed Foods and Processing Techniques to the FoodEx2 Coding System (Version 3) [Data set]: DOI 10.5281/zenodo.6564209Background Document on the EU Database of Processing Factors for Pesticide Residues (Version 3): DOI 10.5281/zenodo.6564213European Database of Processing Factors for Pesticide Residues in Food (Version 3) [Data set]: DOI 10.5281/zenodo.1488652Further representative processes and processed products have been added to the compendium of representative processing techniques and the list of FoodEx2 codes: some processes for apples, canning of sweet corn, production of semolina from wheat grain and some further cooking processes were incorporated. Updates in the background document on the EU database include the explanation of the different treatment situations of a raw product with pesticides (pre-harvest, post-harvest, spiked) and their influence on processing factors. Furthermore, a new chapter on the interpretation of 'unexpected' processing factors was added. This refers to factors which are considered scientifically impossible, based on substance and process specifics. The database has meanwhile reached a good size and quality. However, continuous database maintenance is important to keep this level. Further recommendations have been developed to improve the quality and availability of processing factors.The project report is published by EFSAshort forEuropean Food Safety Authority as external scientific report (EFSAshort forEuropean Food Safety Authority Supporting publication 2024:EN-8738; doi: 10.2903/sp.efsa.2024.EN-8738).