BfR Annual Report 2015

BfR

Annual Report 2015

Due to their many different uses, spices have a great potential for car-

rying over adulterations and contamination in a wide range of products

with a wide distribution area. They belong to one of the most frequently

reported product groups in the European Rapid Alert System for Food

and Feed (RASFF). Against this background, the EU project “SPICED”

was initiated in July 2013. The objective of SPICED is to improve the

safety of spices and dried culinary herbs towards biological and chem-

ical contamination along the entire food chain. The consortium involved

in the project, which is coordinated by the BfR, is made up of eleven

institutions from seven European countries. It comprises partners from

trade and industry, science and food authorities. Over and above this,

additional representatives of industry are available to the project part-

ners in an advisory capacity as integrated stakeholders.

The elements of the spice supply chains are examined more closely

in the SPICED project in order to identify possible points of contami-

nation and characterise them more thoroughly. Parallel to this, control

and warning systems are analysed and assessed with regard to their

usability and effectiveness for these special commodity chains. In ad-

dition to this, existing analytical methods are being optimised and/or

further developed to enable the successful identification of possible

contamination in spices and herbs.

Staff at the BfR's Biological Safety and Safety in the Food Chain depart-

ments are conducting research on important aspects of the SPICED

project. For example, various bacterial microorganisms including

pathogens are being examined with regard to their ability to survive

in spices and dried herbs during storage. In addition to classical cul-

tivation on growth media, molecular biological methods which enable

relatively quick and above all very specific and sensitive detection are

being established.

Using a non-targeted method, the spectroscopic characteristics of the ingredients of a sample, i.e. its physico-chemical

fingerprint, are determined using a combination of spectroscopy and multivariate data analysis.

Spices and herbs are among the

oldest trading goods in the world.

They caused wars and were more

valuable than gold. More than

400 different herbs and spices

are commercially available all

over the world.

The EU is one of the world’s biggest

markets for spices and herbs.

Pepper, paprika and chili are the

top European export hits among

the spices.