As with food, Christmas trees in the EU must be labelled to state whether or not pesticides have been used during cultivation.

The GBA Group offers services to ensure that your Christmas trees comply with EU pesticide legislation.

In addition to mineral oil hydrocarbon compounds, undesirable substances such as pyrrolizidine alkaloids, tropane alkaloids and aflatoxins can also be found in popular ingredients for gingerbread and Christmas spices such as candied lemon peel, candied orange peel, nutmeg, coriander and aniseed. Pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PA) and tropane alkaloids are natural substances that are mainly formed by certain plants, e.g. the St. James' Cross or deadly nightshade, and serve as protection against predators. Whereas the aflatoxins are mould toxins (mycotoxins), which are known to be extremely carcinogenic.

Mineral oils are hydrocarbon compounds (MOH: Mineral Oil Hydrocarbons). They can be subdivided into the two groups MOSH (Mineral Oil Saturated Hydrocarbons) and MOAH (Mineral Oil Aromatic Hydrocarbons). Structurally related to MOSH are the so-called POSH (Polyolefin Oligomeric Saturated Hydrocarbons). Investigations conducted by the European Food Safety Authority found that MOH are present in almost all food products. In particular, in the case of dried food products with a large surface area, such as e.g. spices, flour, semolina, rice, breadcrumbs, or breakfast cereals, you cannot fully rule out the risk of contamination. Fatty foods as well, such as chocolate, butter, nuts, or cooking oils, could be contaminated with mineral oil hydrocarbons. These compounds can end up in the food products in a variety of ways. Potential paths of contamination include the packaging materials (recycled paper, printer ink, jute or sisal sacks treated with oils for waterproofing), lubricating oils from production or harvesting machines, food additives (anti-sticking agents, coatings, glossy agents, anti-dusting agents), gas emissions from the surrounding environment, and many more.

Every year, certain Christmas treats are specifically tested for undesirable contaminants: Acrylamide in gingerbread, speculoos biscuit and cinnamon stars or mineral oil residues in Advent calendar chocolate. According to the EFSA (European Food Safety Authority), the undesirable production-related substance acrylamide potentially increases the risk of cancer. Critical for the mineral oil residues are the aromatic mineral oil hydrocarbons (MOAH) which are also classified as potentially carcinogenic.

In the last years a positive trend was registered and fewer products were contaminated - does this trend continue?

The so-called process contaminant acrylamide is an undesirable by-product that can be produced in food by certain thermal manufacturing processes. The absorption of acrylamide can have a genetic and carcinogenic potential.

Based on the view of the European Parliament that lower limits for acrylamide in baby and toddler food are possible, the limits proposed by the EU Commission were rejected by a large majority on the grounds that the proposed limits are too high. So it still remains exciting.