Ochratoxin A
contamination in coffee
Coffee is one of the most valuable
primary products in world trade, being second in value only to oil as a source
of foreign exchange to developing countries. Its cultivation, processing,
trading, transportation and marketing provide employment for millions of people
worldwide. Any disruption to trade in coffee would have major and direct
negative implications for the livelihoods of rural populations in many
developing countries.
Around 2000, there was increasing
international attention to the problem of ochratoxin-A (OTA) contamination in
coffee and its public health implications. OTA is one of several naturally
occurring toxins, known as mycotoxins, which are produced by moulds that grow
on crops in the field or in storage. OTA present in green coffee is not
completely eliminated during the coffee roasting process.
Regulatory authorities in some
coffee importing countries initiated work on the development of proposed
maximum levels of OTA contamination in green coffee. Coffee producing
countries and the international coffee industry recognized the need to address
this public health problem but argued that the proposed limits were stricter
than could be justified on the basis of scientific evidence and, that if
applied as proposed, could lead to unjustified rejections with consequent
negative economic and social impacts on millions of coffee farmers and small
traders world-wide.
FAO, in close collaboration with the
International Coffee Organization (ICO), and with funding from the Common Fund
for Commodities (CFC), launched a 5-year project in 2001 with the main focus of
assisting countries to develop national capacities for minimising OTA
contamination of green coffee. Implementation partners included national
institutes in Brazil, Colombia, Côte d'Ivoire, Ecuador, France, India,
Indonesia, Kenya and Uganda.
The project reports and the Guidelines for the Prevention of Mould Formation in Coffee developed
through the project can be accessed here.
The training tool on Good Hygiene
Practices along the coffee chain is available here
.
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