4.0 Safety Parameters

Provision, Limits, Testing Methods

Foodstuff/General Food

It is prohibited to import, prepare, or advertise for sale or sell any food ready for consumption that is contaminated with pathogenic microorganisms.

In these Regulations, "microorganisms and their toxins" include bacteria, fungi, and their toxins. 

Microbiological limits are specified in Table I to the Fifteenth Schedule. Parameters include total plate, coliform, and Escherichia coli counts. 

Mycological limits are specified in Table II to the Fifteenth Schedule. Type of contaminants include aflatoxins (B1, B2, G1, G2, M1), Ochratoxin A, and Patulin with maximum permitted proportions prescribed for specified foods.

Provision, Limits, Testing Methods

Foodstuff/General Food

It is prohibited to import, prepare, or advertise for sale or sell any food that contains metal contaminants or other substances set out in the Fourteenth and Fourteenth A Schedules in a proportion greater than the maximum permitted proportion as specified in the respective Schedule.

Arsenic, lead, cadmium, mercury, antimony, tin and 3-MCPD have maximum permitted proportions prescribed for specified food as listed in the Fourteenth and Fourteenth A Schedules. 

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Provision, Limits, Testing Methods

Foodstuff/General Food

Maximum residue levels (MRLs) of pesticides are set out in the Sixteenth Schedule.

It is prohibited to import, prepare for sale, or sell any food—

(a) containing pesticide residue in a proportion greater than the proportion specified for that food in relation to that pesticide residue as set out in the Sixteenth Schedule;

(b) containing pesticide residue in a proportion greater than the proportion specified for that food in relation to that pesticide residue as recommended in the Codex Alimentarius, where the pesticide residue is not specified in the Sixteenth Schedule; or

(c) containing 0.01 milligram or more per kilogram of any pesticide residue, where the pesticide is not specified for that food in the Sixteenth Schedule or Codex Alimentarius.

Notwithstanding point (c), food may contain 0.01 milligram or more per kilogram any pesticide residue with prior written approval of the FSQD Director.

Provision, Limits, Testing Methods

Foodstuff/General Food

Maximum residue levels (MRLs) of veterinary drug residues are set out in the Fifteenth A Schedule.

• It is prohibited to import, sell, expose, or offer for sale or delivery, any food intended for human consumption which contains drug residues greater than the amount as set out in Table I, to the Fifteenth A Schedule.
• It is prohibited to import, sell, expose or offer for sale or delivery, any food intended for human consumption which contains the drugs as set out in Table II of the Fifteenth A Schedule, which are beta agonists excluding ractopamine, nitrofurans, and chloramphenicol
• Either chlortetracycline or oxytetracycline may be incorporated in ice used for preserving fresh fish, and unpeeled shrimps, provided that the concentration of one of these drugs shall not exceed 5 parts per million in the product.
  
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Provision, Limits, Testing Methods

Foodstuff/General Food