On 20 September 2023, the NVWA published a temporary enforcement policy on MOAH (Mineral Oil Aromatic Hydrocarbons) in food. Companies that produce and/or trade in food are required to carry out monitoring for MOAH in their products while the hazards are still unclear and there is no legislation for it. The MOAH enforcement policy will take effect from 1 January 2024.
MOAH is a mineral oil obtained from petroleum. Mineral oils consist of MOSH (Mineral Oil Saturated Hydrocarbons) and MOAH (Mineral Oil Aromatic Hydrocarbons). Not all mineral oils are harmful. Some mineral oils can be intentionally added to food in pure form. MOSH and also many MOAH are non-carcinogenic, but there are types of MOAH that are of concern because they are potentially carcinogenic.
In 2012, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) looked at the risk of mineral oils in packaging materials. They saw that small amounts of these substances could be present in products such as rice or bread and concluded that there was a potential risk. Therefore, in 2017, the European Commission asked all member states to monitor mineral oils. In the Netherlands, RIVM further investigated this in 2018 - 2019. With this research looked not only at products in cardboard packaging, but also at intake through all food. According to RIVM, some MOAH are carcinogenic if you ingest too much of them. Conclusion study: with current exposure to MOSH, no negative effects on public health are to be expected. For MOAH, not enough data was yet available to determine this exposure. But with a new EU statement (unsubstantiated publication), this is now being rapidly completed by the NVWA.
The NVWA is currently carrying out monitoring for MOAH in various food products. This is likely to be included in the National Contaminants Plan (NPC). During inspections, the NVWA checks whether companies operate food safely according to an HACCP plan. They require MOAH to be included in it because it is a group of substances with suspected genotoxic and carcinogenic members. Because combined with the publication of the 'EU Statement', this should be sufficient reason to include MOAH in the HACCP plan, according to the NVWA.
The 'EU statement' lists the following action limits:
When MOAH are found in food products, this may prompt the NVWA to carry out an inspection and check whether a company takes its responsibility in terms of raw material assurance and hazard analysis around MOAH. If the NVWA finds a violation in the field of HACCP, the NVWA will take enforcement action according to the standard intervention policy. So MOAH must be included in the hazard analysis including assurance measures. There is also an obligation to report if MOAH is found above the action limit because an unsafe product may be involved. Here, the NVWA invokes Article 19 of Regulation (EU) No 178/2002.
The NVWA will not enforce the deviation from the action limit in the product itself with a written warning or fine. However, NVWA will report this in RASFF and enforce a recall. This is because there are no legal maximum levels for MOAH in food yet, and enforcement is done on the basis of an EU Statement and EFSA opinion that are not substantiated insightfully.
