Revue Marocaine des Sciences Agronomiques et Vétérinaires (Sep 2018)
Analysis of the notifications of the Rasff system for histamine in fishery products over a period of 11 years: International situation and the case of Morocco
Abstract
Information provided by the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) concerning fishery products exported from several countries to the European market as well as those exported from Morocco, during a period of 11 years (2005-2015), were studied to analyze the occurrence of histamine. A number of 46 countries were notified on the basis of non-compliant histamine content in their exported products. The total number of RASFF notifications for histamine was 1.22 % of the total number of RASFF notifications and 10.9 % of RASFF notifications for fishery products. Products originating from 8 countries (Portugal, Côte d’Ivoire, Spain, Mexico, Norway, Italy, Vietnam and China) accounted for 80 % of the highest levels of histamine. Over the period 2005-2015, the mean number of histamine notifications per country was 38 with a minimum of one notification for Norway, Sweden, Chile, Ghana, Fiji, Poland, Estonia and Germany and a maximum of 58 notifications for Spain. The average histamine content was 894.7 mg/kg. The highest histamine levels were recorded for products originating from Europe (1367.2 mg/kg) followed by those from America (1169.7 mg/kg), Asia (712.6 mg/kg), Australia (638.4 mg/kg) and Africa (600.4 mg/kg). On the other hand, Asia recorded the highest number of notifications (n = 213; 50.2 %) followed by Europe (n = 101; 23.8 %). The maximum number of notifications concerned tuna (n = 247; 62 %). For Morocco, the mean number of RASFF notifications for histamine levels was 5/year with an average content of 506.8 mg/kg, sardine being the main notified fish species (n = 42; 82.4 % ) but the highest content was in anchovy (910.3 mg / kg). In terms of tonnage, the histamine incriminated products originating from Morocco remain low and constitute 0.014% of the total fish quantity exported. The economic and social consequences of these notifications are not negligible and must be taken into account. Analysis of these RASFF data also revealed that the average content of histamine incriminated in histamine intoxications is 2075.8 mg / kg and that 78% are contents greater than 1000 mg/kg. In other words, it can be argued unequivocally that the current safety limit of 200 mg/kg provides consumer protection.
