This report gives a short survey of the situation concerning chemical contamination of foods in Hungary. It starts with a legal background and lists the institutions partaking in control and monitoring of food contamination. The report gives the most important food contaminants analysed in Hungary, and in some cases provides information about the actual levels. It concludes by stressing the importance and the need to unify the national monitoring system.Autori u ovome kratkom pregledu opisuju kemijsko onečišćenje hrane u Mađarskoj. Nakon prikaza zakonske regulative autori daju popis ustanova koje u Mađarskoj nadziru i prate onečišćenje hrane. Članak navodi najvažnija onečišćivala hrane u toj zemlji te stvarne razine nekih od njih. Autori na kraju naglašavaju da je potrebno sjediniti sustav praćenja na državnoj razini

Judit Sohár

János Domoki

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163Arh Hig Rada Toksikol 2001;52:163–167CONTAMINATION OFFOOD AND AGROPRODUCTS IN HUNGARY Judit SOHÁR and János DOMOKIFodor József National Center forPublic Health, National Institute ofFood Hygiene and Nutrition,Budapest, HungaryReceived November 2000COUNTRY REPORTThis report gives a short survey of the situationconcerning chemical contamination of foods inHungary. It starts with a legal background andlists the institutions partaking in control andmonitoring of food contamination. The reportgives the most important food contaminantsanalysed in Hungary, and in some cases providesinformation about the actual levels. It concludesby stressing the importance and the need to unifythe national monitoring system.Key words:heavy metals, mycotoxins, PAH, PCB, pesticideresidues, polychlorinated compounds, residuesThe aim of this paper is to give a short review of chemical food contamination,trends, and levels found, and the handling of this problem in Hungary.REVIEW OF FOOD CONTAMINATION FINDINGS IN THE COUNTRYThe data on food contamination reviewed herein have mainly been collected fromunpublished sources by institutions involved in food investigation. The sampling pro-cedures and analytical methods used by these institutions are Hungarian standardmethods, mainly based on the standards of the European Committee for Standardiza-tion, or in a few cases, other validated methods.There are several sources of chemical contamination of foods and agro products(Figure 1). All these sources can result in contamination with remarkable risk to humanhealth and they arouse questions of chemical safety of foods. The undesirable effect ofsome of them can be eliminated or decreased by applying systems like Hazard AnalysisCritical Control Points (HACCP) or Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP), but not of all. Presented at the ICS-UNIDO Workshop on Contamination of Food and Agroproducts, 28 September – 1 October 2000, Vara`din, Croatia164 Sohár J, Domoki J.: FOOD AND AGRO PRODUCT CONTAMINATION IN HUNGARYArh Hig Rada Toksikol 2001;52:163–167The basis of chemical safety of foods should be an up-to-date system of regu-lations which would bring enough safety for the consumers and could be fully ob-served by food producers. The regulations should include an appropriate food law,fair authorisation processes, Maximum Limits (ML), and Maximum Residue Limits(MRL), and other  limitations and restrictions. The Hungarian regulations related tofood safety have been adjusted to the international requirements for decades (CodexAlimentarius, West European food laws), as the country’s food export was alwaysremarkable and had to meet the requirements of the West European countries andthe USA. Therefore the legal harmonization with the EU, which is a prerequisite ofjoining it, is proceeding smoothly, and the greater portion of it has already beencompleted.In Hungary it is the right of the Minister of Health to establish maximum limits forfood contaminants. There are three orders that cover the issue. Order No. 17/1999.(IV. 16.) of the Minister of Health (1) regulates the MLs of several chemical contam-inants in foods, while order No. 2/1999. (II. 5.) (2) does it to the MLs of the veterinar-ian drug residues. Both integrate the relevant EU regulations and extend the list ofMLs to more contaminants and more food items. The scope of the two orders israther broad. It contains limitations for the following type of contaminants: residues of pesticides presently allowed and previously banned in foods of animalorigin and residues of fumigants in fumigated foods; contaminants of technological origin (metals from utensils, benzo(a)pyren, polarcompounds in frying oils, residues of cleaning/disinfecting agents; contaminants of environmental origin (PCB-s, metals from all sources, somebanned pesticides); contaminants of biological origin (mycotoxins, histamine); harmful substances of natural origin (HCN, methanol, morphine, narcotin, tebain,codein, nitrate, nitrite).The third order which regulates the maximum residue limits of pesticides in foods ofplant origin is under revision and subject to harmonization with relevant EU regulations.Animal husbandryAgricultureEnvironmentMale preparationStoragePackaging ProcessingFOODFigure 1 Sources of chemical contamination of foods and agro products165Sohár J, Domoki J.: FOOD AND AGRO PRODUCT CONTAMINATION IN HUNGARYArh Hig Rada Toksikol 2001;52:163–167Hungary has adopted all EU regulations published until now which are related tomaterials and articles coming into contact with food. Issues which have not yet beenregulated by the EU are handled according to German regulations.Rules are as good as they are observed, which means that they need control. InHungary, institutes of three ministries are involved in food control. These are theNational Institute of Food Hygiene and Nutrition, Institutes? of the National Service ofPublic Health and Medical Officers (Ministry of Health), National Food InvestigationInstitute, Veterinarian and Food Control Stations, Plant Health and Soil ProtectionStations (Ministry of Agriculture), and Inspectorate of Consumer Protection (Ministry ofIndustry and Commerce).The distribution of contaminants in approximately 30,000 food samples tested bythese institutes every year is: metals 37%, pesticides 23%, food additives 20%, myc-otoxins 12%, other toxins of natural origin 2.5%, veterinarian drug residues 1.5%,PCBs 1.5%, and PAHs 0.5%.These investigations are mainly control tests for legal limits; they do not give theexact levels of the contaminants, but the ratio of nonconforming v. conforming sam-ples. The general participation of nonconforming samples is below 4%.Only a smaller portion of investigations give information about the actual levelsof contaminants. These findings have been used as a basis for the general overviewof the situation and tendencies in chemical food contamination in Hungary.OVERVIEW OF CHEMICAL FOOD CONTAMINATIONThe lead content in foodstuffs has continuously been decreasing over the past ten yearsand has substantially reached the European values. According to the 1997 data thecalculated average daily intake of lead from food was 131 µg, that is 52% of theTolerable Daily Intake (TDI) (with the assumed average body mass of 70 kg) establishedby the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives and Contaminants (JECFA).In the case of cadmium the situation is less advantageous; the measured con-centrations are stagnating or are slightly increasing.The mercury content found in the domestic food is rather low, while in fish it was35 µg/kg.The analysis of metals also includes As, Cu, Zn, Ni, and Al. The average levelsare well under the MLs. Exceptions are spirits with a higher copper content which weredistilled in small distilleries using old copper apparatus.The concentrations of PAHs or benzo(a)pyrene alone are mainly controlled insmoked foodstuffs. Concerning environmental contamination of vegetables and cere-als only a small number of investigations are done annually.Thirty years after the ban of chlorinated pesticides in Hungary, their residues arebeing detected only in trace levels in domestic foods. However, they were quite oftenfound in imported foodstuffs, which led to import ban in several cases.PCBs and/or PCB congeners are investigated in food of animal origin and humanmilk. The results of a 1997 survey on the PCB content in human milk (Table 1)suggest that PCB contamination in Hungary is not heavy (3).166 Sohár J, Domoki J.: FOOD AND AGRO PRODUCT CONTAMINATION IN HUNGARYArh Hig Rada Toksikol 2001;52:163–167The control of natural toxic compounds includes methanol in spirits, cyanide,solanin, histamine, NO2, NO3, and – perhaps uniquely – morphine content in poppyseed. In few cases did the control establish excessive histamine content in fish andcheese samples.Pesticide residues were detected in less than half of the tested samples. Theannual average percent of samples exceeding the MRL is 2–3%. An exception areearly spring vegetables (lettuce, paprika, tomato, radish, and cucumber) grown ingreenhouses with 6–8% of samples exceeding the MRL. It is remarkable that generallythe reason of the increase is not the excessive use, but the use of a forbidden agent.Aflatoxins and ochratoxin A are given the greatest attention amongst mycotoxins.The control involves great quantities of samples of imported and domestic foods. Theratio of nonconforming and conforming samples  is 1-2%, but the detectable amount(1–2 µg/kg) of the contaminants was found in most samples of coffee, cocoa, beans,muesli, flour, rice, bran, and red wine).Generally, zearalenon (F-2 toxin) and T-2 toxin were not detected in the investi-gated foods. They were observed around the detection limit in 4–8% of the samples.CONCLUSIONSHungarian regulations concerning food contaminants practically conform to those ofthe European Union. The difference is that the former are even more detailed, spec-ifying maximum limits for more contaminants and more food items. Most laboratoriesauthorised for food control have been accredited, whereas the rest are in the processof obtaining accreditation.We believe that the hot spot, the burning issue related to food contaminants arenot the levels found or the lack of the controlling capacities, but the absence of aunified national monitoring system in Hungary. The technical and intellectual potentialof the workforce is rembarkable, but its effectiveness should be improved. The hazardTable 1 PCBs in human milk (1997)(µg/kg, calculated for fat content)PCB-138  PCB-153  PCB-180Area with average pollution (41 samples)Range <0.1 – 53.6 <0.1 – 115.54 <0.1 – 23.70Median 2.71 38.61 2.8690% 37.18 84.33 15.55Area with higher pollution (29 samples)Range 10.33 – 35.65 30.14 – 110.0 6.97 – 24.64Median 17.47 53.53 11.3890% 24.72 91.92 17.22167Sohár J, Domoki J.: FOOD AND AGRO PRODUCT CONTAMINATION IN HUNGARYArh Hig Rada Toksikol 2001;52:163–167identification, risk assessment, and risk management systems should be built to thebenefit of all involved, but first and foremost of the consumers. The most urgent taskof the Hungarian administration is to organise a unified and coordinated leadership ofwhat is now several partial monitoring systems run by different ministries.REFERENCES1. Az egészségügyi miniszter 17/1999. (VI. 16.) Eü. M. rendelete az élelmiszerek vegyi szen-nyezettségének megengedheto mértékérºl [No. 17/1999 Health Ministry order of the ministerof health on the acceptable level of the chemical contamination of foods, in Hungarian].Magyar Közlöny 1999;3339–52.2. Az egészségügyi miniszter 2/1999. (II. 5.) Eü. M. rendelete az állatgyógyászati készítményekélelmiszerekben elºforduló maradványainak a megengedhetº mértékéröl. [No. 2/1999 HealthMinistry order of the minister of health on the acceptable level of the residues of veterinariandrugs occurring in foods, in Hungarian]. Magyar Közlöny 1999;544–64.3. Paldy A, Radoczy M, Sedlak M, Bokros F, Kiss Z, Bitto A, Farkas H, Horvath A, Karpati Z,Kromer I, Sohar J, Matyasovszky K, Sas B, Pinter A. Szennyezett környezetben élºk kockázatitényezºi [Risk factors of people living in polluted environment, in Hungarian]. Egészségtu-domány1998; XLII:153–68.Sa‘etakONE^I[]ENJE HRANE I POLJOPRIVREDNIH PROIZVODA UMA\ARSKOJAutori u ovome kratkom pregledu opisuju kemijsko one~i{}enje hrane u Ma|arskoj. Nakon prikaza zakonskeregulative autori daju popis ustanova koje u Ma|arskoj nadziru i prate one~i{}enje hrane. ^lanak navodi najva‘nijaone~i{}ivala hrane u toj zemlji te stvarne razine nekih od njih. Autori na kraju nagla{avaju da je potrebno sjedinitisustav pra}enja na dr‘avnoj razini.Klju~ne rije~i:mikotoksini, organoklorovi spojevi, ostaci pesticida, PAU, PCB, te{ki metaliRequests for reprints:János Domoki, Ph. D.Fodor József National Center for Public HealthNational Institute of Food Hygiene and NutritionGyali út 3/a, H-1097 Budapest, HungaryE-mail: h5650dom@ella.hu

Onečišćenje hrane i poljoprivrednih proizvoda u Mađarskoj

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