Geneva, July 7 - Food experts on Friday set new international standards on maximum allowed levels of contaminants including lead and cadmium, as well as aflatoxins, so as to improve food safety, officials said.
The standards, issued by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, are voluntary for countries, but apply to food consignments that move in international trade, they added.
"The new standards adopted this week will thus go a long way to protecting human health, as they set out new, maximum limits for lead in fish, cadmium in rice, marine bivalve molluscs and cephalopods, and aflatoxin in Brazil nuts," a statement said.
Officials from 110 countries took part in the annual week-long talks. Codex is a joint food standards body run by two United Nations agencies -- the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) -- to protect consumers' health and ensure practices in food trade.
On aflatoxins, blamed for severe stomach cramps or liver cancer, the experts did not set a numerical value to limit the amount in Brazil nuts, but issued guidelines on critical points in the production process, officials said.
Some countries have raised concerns in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) about strict European Union (EU) standards on residual levels for aflatoxins in Brazil nuts, but there has not been any formal dispute cases brought before the trade watchdog.
The food experts did set specific levels to limit amounts of cadmium, which can provoke kidney damage after long periods of exposure, as well as lead, which can cause anaemia and hepatic and neurological disorders, according to the Codex statement.
A maximum of 0.4 milligrams of cadmium per kilo should be found in polished rice, Kazuaki Miyagishima, Codex secretary, told a news briefing.
Cadmium should not exceed two milligrams per kilo of marine bivalve molluscs, excluding oysters and scallops, and the same amount in cephalopods such as squids and octopus, he said.
The maximum level of lead in fish was set at 0.3 milligrams per kg, Miyagishima said.
The experts also agreed to set up a task force to assess food safety risks associated with antimicrobial resistance in food of animal origin, not expected to meet until mid-2007.