,The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) has released its FY2026 Annual Surveillance and Monitoring Plan for Hazardous Chemicals and Harmful Microorganisms in Food and Feed, outlining Japans priority monitoring activities for the fiscal year, with an expanded focus on emerging risks such as PFAS, heavy metals in seaweed, 2?chloroethanol in processed foods, and microbiological hazards in poultry and oysters.
The plan does not introduce new maximum limits or microbiological criteria, but focuses on occurrence data collection, verification of existing controls, and generation of scientific evidence to support future domestic measures and international standard?setting, including Codex discussions.
Expanded PFAS surveillance covers PFOS, PFOA, PFHxS and PFNA in agricultural and fishery products to strengthen exposure data and support international risk assessments
1.Agricultural commodities include lettuce, green onions (Negi), komatsuna, bell peppers and sweet potatoes (30 samples per commodity), while fishery products include horse mackerel, eel, shijimi clams and nori seaweed (30 samples each), with results intended to support FAO/WHO risk assessment work and inform potential domestic risk management actions.
2.Continued monitoring of mycotoxins and heavy metals includes deoxynivalenol (DON), nivalenol (NIV), zearalenone and related toxins in domestic wheat (90 samples) and barley (60 samples), including verification of the effectiveness of revised 2023 prevention guidance, as well as surveys of cadmium, lead, arsenic and mercury in wakame, kombu and nori seaweed (100 samples each) to support anticipated Codex discussions on international limits; spice monitoring also continues for lead, cadmium and arsenic in ginger, chili, pepper, turmeric and other spices to verify compliance and support export safety.
The plan places greater emphasis on emerging chemical risks in processed foods, including investigation of 2?chloroethanol in 180 samples of domestically produced seasonings and 60 samples of spices to assess unintended contamination, and monitoring of ergot alkaloids in wheat?based processed foods such as bread, noodles and infant cereal products. Enhanced microbiological surveillance strengthens the farm?to?fork risk reduction approach, with continued two?year Campylobacter studies in poultry cecal contents and retail meat products to establish a national contamination baseline, Norovirus surveillance of 450 oyster samples across 15 prefectures alongside evaluation of high?pressure processing as a mitigation option for export readiness, and monitoring of Listeria monocytogenes in higher?risk ready?to?eat foods including raw ham, natural cheese and smoked salmon. Feed safety monitoring is maintained with continued surveillance for aflatoxin B1 in domestic corn silage and imported corn grains, dioxins in fish oil and fish meal, and additional surveys where data gaps persist, with MAFF noting that exceedances of applicable management standards, including those under the Feed Safety Law, may trigger regulatory action and root?cause investigations. All analyses will be conducted by ISO/IEC 17025?accredited laboratories to ensure data reliability, and MAFF expects that FY2026 results will help verify the effectiveness of existing controls, support scientific risk management, and contribute to future international standards development.
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