In September 2024, there were 359 notifications on the RASFF Portal including 318 foods, 27 animal feeds and 14 food contact material notifications.

In food, fruits and vegetables are still the products that account for the most cases (51 notifications), followed by poultry meat and poultry meat products (29 notifications) and dietetic foods, fish and fish products (28 notifications).

There are highlight alerts reported this month:

1. Microbiology:

• There are 73 cases alerted from EU members relevant to pathogens.  Most highlight is the detection of Salmonella in meat products originating from many sources (28 warnings) and remains in nut and nut products, herb and spices, fruit and vegetables, milk and egg (10 alerts); Listeria monocytogenes in milk and meat products (14 alerts); E.coli in meat, bivalve molluscs and milk products (8 alerts). We should focus on hygiene for meat, sea food and milk products better.
• One point we should notice is detected Anisakis spp in fish and fish products from Morocco.  

2. Pesticides: total has 55 warnings.

• The banned active substances such as chlopyrifos, phosmet, dimethoate, thiamethoxam, chlorfenapyr, tricyclazole, epoxiconazole, dichlorvos, pentachlorophenol, clothianidin, dinotefuran, fipronil, hexaconazole, isoprothiolane, griseofulvin are detected in fruit and vegetable products, herbs and spices, tea, and nuts, cereals.
• The frequency of residues of acetamiprid, imidacloprid, metalaxyl, carbendazim, Azoxystrobin exceeding the MRL is quite frequent in the vegetable and fruit, spices group.
• Residue of ethylene oxide is detected in food additives and flavourings from China and in spice mixture from Pakistan.

3. Chemical contaminant:

• Aflatoxin (21 cases) exceeds MRL the threshold in nuts and nut products quite frequently originating almost from the United States.  
• Ochratoxin A exceeds MRL in some dried fruit products, cereal products, spices and sweet pepper from China, Turkey, Indonesia, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
• Heavy metal: Cadmium exceeds MRL in avocados, tomatoes, crustaceans, bivalve molluscs; Exceeding mercury in fish, Lead in spices.
• The significantly exceeded 3-monochlor-1,2-propanediol (3-MCPD), glycidyl esters in instant noodles from Nigeria, Bangladesh; crackers from the Netherlands.
• Exceeding of Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in paprika powder from China.
•  High level Acrylamide (475,9 µg/kg) in in biscuits from Republic of North Macedonia.
•  Detection of mineral oil (MOAH) in palm oil form Ghana, Ecuador, Nigeria; vegetable oil in Spain.
• Detection of PFAS (PFOA) in frozen cooked bivalve molluscs (Paphia textile) from Vietnam.

4. Food additive: there are some highlight notices

• Presence of E 110 (sunset yellow) in chips has origin from Iran, sweet popcorn from Latvia;
• E 220 (sulfur dioxide) is too high in dried shiitake mushrooms from China, raisins from Iran and undeclared on label of coconut milk products;
• Detection unauthorized Titan dioxide in food supplements from Romania.

5. Antibiotics: Exceeding doxycycline, dihydrostreptomycin in meat.
6. Allergies:

Lack of declaration of allergies egg, gluten, celery, milk, sesame, mustard, soya on food labels

7. Other alerts:

• In this month, there is 14 cases alert about foreign bodies such as plastic pieces, metal, glass pieces, steel-cut in food proucts.
• Some novel food unauthorized in EU such as BHB Calcium, Raspberry Ketone,...

8. Vietnam: in September, Vietnam received warnings from EU as details are in the table below: