Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/491371
12 STiR tea & coffee industry international New Anthraquinone MRL Tea plantations in producing countries are colliding with European Union import regulations limiting anthraquinone, a chemical associated with packaging. A new maximum reside level (MRL) of 0.01 mg has caused a lot of confusion in the tea industry because testing equipment is not readily available and tests are expensive. Trace amounts are generally attributed to the addition of this compound to bleach pulp during paper production and in many dyes. It is also used as an insecticide and may be a by product of tea processing, said Indonesia Tea Board chair Rachmat Badruddin."There is no certainty of the cause of it," he said. The European Food Safety Authority lowered the MRL threshold following animal tests that show it could possibly be dangerous. "Meanwhile, exporters and importers hesitate to sell and buy product," said board vice chair Farid Akbany: "Nobody is suggest- ing that European authorities allow their people to consume harmful drinks, but perhaps it is time to harmonize certification and re-examine and simplify health require- ments without endangering the population." Nordic World of Coffee Gothenburg Sweden is the site of the 2015 World of Coffee, the Specialty Coffee Association of Europe's premier event. The 15th Anniversary gathering of Europe's specialty coffee industry will be June 16-18 at the Swedish Exhibition & Congress Centre. The inaugural European coffee summit will bring coffee's leading stakeholders and strategists together to debate the big issues affecting the industry and chart a future course for the sector. A new trends zone will also help visitors keep abreast of the latest developments in coffee, shining a spotlight on exciting new products, while a dedicated food and beverage seminar will highlight how the wider hospitality industry can boost profit margins by embrac- ing coffee excellence. Organizers expect 10,000 to attend, up from the 8,234 from 100 countries that travelled to the 2014 event in Rimini, Italy. Learn more: www.worldofcoffee-nordic.com NEWS FDA Responds to Coffee Industry Concerns In a highly unusual move, the FDA has re-floated proposed food safety rules under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) following a deluge of public comments. The National Coffee Association led an industry effort to exempt green coffee from compliance with "onerous" food safety rules that ignore the fact that coffee is a low-risk food that warrants a lesser degree of scrutiny. FDA explicitly recognizes that the type and characteristics of a food should be considered in calibrating safety plans that are compliant with FSMA. FDA also incorporates the concepts of "probability" and "sever- ity" in assigning appropriate scrutiny levels to individual food-related risks, reported NCA in a membership alert. "Among other things, they recognize that existing controls in place at food-handling facilities already achieve food safety goals," writes NCA. NCA argued that existing safety plans, which are typically customized to suit the physical and sanitary needs of individual facilities and the foods they handle, already provide targeted security that new plans, applied generically and proscriptively, cannot match. In the supplemental rules, FDA specifically recognizes that safety plans can be "tailored" to the individual food facility in question. FDA is under a court order that requires the agency to have final rules in place by Aug. 15, 2015. "NCA anticipates that its ongoing efforts, along with those of many others from throughout the broader food industry, will result in final rules that will ensure safety without unneces- sarily encumbering commerce," according to the release. Ambitious Tea Export Target Sri Lanka has set an ambitious export target of $5 billion by 2020 which would make it the top global exporter by value. The country currently exports $1.5 billion worth of tea. Minister of plantation industries Mahinda Samarasinghe told the Sri Lanka Tea Exporters Association in October that Sri Lanka provides more value than compet- ing exporters. He said that 46% of Sri Lanka's total production is value added tea (bagged, packaged, blended, flavored, decaffeinated, made into solubles, tea extract, or otherwise enhanced). By comparison only 11% of the tea India produces is value added and only 4% of Kenya's teas are processed beyond bulk offerings. In 2004 only 37% of Sri Lanka's tea production was value-added. Samarasinghe said that Sri Lanka faces stiff competition globally and must aggressively market its tea. To finance this effort exporters have paid a promotional levy of SLRs 3.50 per kilo since November 2010. The fund has now reached SLRs 3.5 billion ($26.7 million). To make the best use of this money, exporters are asked to match allotments up to $1 million. Half of the fund will be available to exporters. The goal is to enter new markets and regain lost market share in traditional markets, he said. Targets include China, the US, and Russia as well as other Asian countries. Exporters will begin their campaign after the first of the year.