WRITTEN QUESTION P-2982/01 by Carlos Bautista Ojeda (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. Presence of alpha-benzpyrenes in oil derived from olive residues.
Date: 2001-10-22
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Italy, Spain, food contamination, food safety, foodstuffs legislation, health risk, olive oil, public health, toxic substance

C 115 E/208

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

16.5.2002

Can the Commission answer the following:

1. What percentage of undertakings and/or companies in the EU and in the EEA fall within the scope of
the current rules laid down in the Works Council Directive specifying 1000 and 150 employees
respectively?

2. What percentage of employees in the EU and in the EEA are covered by the current rules laid down in

the Works Council Directive specifying 1000 and 150 employees respectively?

3. What percentage of undertakings and/or companies in the EU and in the EEA would fall within the
scope of the rules if the thresholds laid down in the Works Council Directive specified 500 and 100
employees respectively?

4. What percentage of employees in the EU and in the EEA would be concerned if the thresholds laid

down in the Works Council Directive specified 500 and 100 employees respectively?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(23 November 2001)

It is currently estimated that about 1850 Community-scale undertakings or groups of undertakings with
total employment of around 16 million fall within the scope of the current thresholds. As regards number
of employees covered this represents about 10 % of total Community employment.

There is no statistical source from which the number of Community-scale groups falling within the scope
of the Directive can be readily estimated. The estimate of 1850 has been arrived at over time by a process
of identifying relevant entities on a case-by-case basis. Similarly there is no readily available source from
which to estimate the impact,
in terms of increased coverage, of the Parliament’s call to reduce the
thresholds for application of the Directive (1). Therefore the Commission is not in a position to provide the
information requested by the Honourable Member in this regard.

(1) Council Directive 94/45/EC of 22 September 1994 on the establishment of a European Works Council or a
procedure in Community-scale undertakings and Community-scale groups of undertakings for the purposes of
informing and consulting employees 7 OJ L 254, 30.9.1994.

(2002/C 115 E/220)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2982/01

by Carlos Bautista Ojeda (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(22 October 2001)

Subject: Presence of alpha-benzpyrenes in oil derived from olive residues

On 19 July 2001, in connection with the food alert declared by the Spanish Government on account of
the high percentage of benzpyrene found in oil derived from olive residues, the Commissioner responsible
for agriculture told various media outlets that ‘Spain should have waited until it had a scientific basis for its
actions’ and said that ‘first of all we need to clarify the issue of what residue level can be tolerated from a
scientific point of view. This substance can be found in many other products’.

In addition, the Scientific Committee on Food issued a report on levels of benzpyrene in oil derived from
olive residues, in which it stated that: ‘Exposure on one or more occasions to such doses of hydrocarbons
[referring to those notified by Spain] has a low or moderate non-carcinogenic effect’ and that ‘serious toxic
effects would require prolonged exposure at concentrations much higher than those notified by the
Spanish Government. Taking the highest levels detected and an average consumption of between 15 and
50 grammes per person, the absorption of PAH from the contaminated oils would be in the order of
between 500 and 1 500 nanogrammes per kilo of body weight per day’, which is ‘considerably lower than
the doses which produce a serious toxic effect.’

16.5.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 115 E/209

Are the above-quoted statements by the Agriculture Commissioner accurate?

Under what conditions should the precautionary principle be applied in order to activate the food-alert
network?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(23 November 2001)

Tests by Member States producing olive-pomace oils have shown that their contamination by polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) is due to high-temperature drying of olive-pomace pastes (alperujos) from
two-phase mills. These are very widespread in Spain but the problem affects all producing countries.

When the Agriculture Commissioner visited Spain in July 2001, i.e. at the same time as the Spanish
authorities declared a food alert, and was questioned on the matter he voiced his concern about a problem
affecting the image of the entire sector and spoke of the need to establish at European level harmonised
contaminant
the
precautionary principle laid down in the health legislation appears correct given there was a risk to
consumer health on the PAH levels present in the samples analysed.

limits for all products liable to contain PAHs. Spain’s decision in application of

Following alerts for Italian olive-pomace oils, Italy also set maximum PAH limits for these products, under
the emergency procedure provided in Parliament and Council Directive 98/34/EC of 22 June 1998 laying
down a procedure for the provision of information in the fields of technical standards and regulations (1).
These limits were accepted by the Standing Committee for Foodstuffs.

No harmonised Community maximum levels exist for benzo-a-pyrene or other PAHs in food. Nevertheless,
the general food safety provisions of the framework regulation (Council Regulation (EEC) No 315/93 of
8 February 1993 laying down Community procedures for contaminants in food (2)) apply, which provide
that a food containing a contaminant in an amount that is unacceptable from the public health viewpoint
shall not be placed on the market. In such cases Member States may take action to protect consumer
safety.

It is a requirement to notify unacceptable contamination cases through the Rapid Alert System for Food
(RASFF), under which the Member States, European Economic Area/European Free Trade Association
(EEA-EFTA) countries and the Commission share information on food products that present a risk to the
health of consumers. In the contaminated olive-pomace oil cases the notifications from Member States
were sent as alerts because the food presented a risk to public health and was on the market in more than
one Member State.

In July 2001 the Scientific Committee on Food responded to the current contamination problem in olive
pomace oils and concluded that there is no short-term health concern from the levels of PAHs detected.
This means that consumption of the product on just a few occasions would not present an unacceptable
health risk. However, regular consumption of oil with such levels of PAHs must be avoided because PAHs
are carcinogens. The Scientific Committee on Food is currently carrying out an evaluation aimed at
clarifying the full risk from PAHs. In addition the Member States are collecting data for a coordinated
assessment of the occurrence of these chemicals in foodstuffs. Then, if necessary, Community maximum
levels in foods will be set for PAHs such as benzo-a-pyrene.

(1) OJ L 204, 21.7.1998.
(2) OJ L 37, 13.2.1993.