Ethoxyquin as an additive in animal feed: the case of farmed fish

11.11.2013

Question for written answer P-012742-13
to the Commission
Rule 117
Corinne Lepage (ALDE)

In 2010, Swiss chemists found very high levels of ethoxyquin in farmed fish from a number of European countries (EU Member States and others).

Ethoxyquin was originally used as a pesticide and then banned in the EU, but it is still being used as a food preservative (antioxidant) to prevent the rancidification of animal meal used to feed farmed fish.

In a 2013 opinion, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) acknowledged that it lacked sufficient information to evaluate the impact of ethoxyquin on human health. The scant information that is available does indeed point to a health risk.

What is more, unlike the corresponding laws in force in other countries (Japan, for example) European legislation on maximum levels of pesticide residues (Regulation (EC) No 396/2005) does not apply to fish, and thus not even to farmed fish.

Does the Commission intend to ask the EFSA to carry out a study into the toxicity of ethoxyquin and into ethoxyquin dimer with a view to then revising its 2013 opinion once the results are available?

Does the Commission not think that the rules on maximum authorised residue levels should also cover fishery and aquaculture products and animal feed supplements?

The risks associated with the use of ethoxyquin as a pesticide are well known, and it may no longer be employed for that purpose in the EU. On what basis, then, is ethoxyquin authorised as a food additive?

OJ C 228, 17/07/2014