The EU has one of the highest food safety standards in the world – largely thanks to the solid set of EU legislation in place, which ensures that food is safe for consumers. A key tool, to ensure the cross-border flow of information, that helps countries to swiftly react when risks to public health are detected in the food chain is RASFF – the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed..

On 20^th September 2016, A RASFF alert was issued relating to the detection of high levels of Aflatoxin B1 in maize from Brazil. The alert can be viewed here and indicates that the material has only been distributed to Spain and Italy, but it could potentially indicate a wider issue.