RASFF
Definition
Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed: the EU notification mechanism (under Regulation EU 178/2002) for immediate cross-border communication of food safety risks. Operated by the European Commission with national contact points in all member states; public portal at the European Commission website.
- Full name
- Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed
- Region
- European Union
- Legal basis
- Regulation (EC) No 178/2002
- Operator
- European Commission with national contact points
- Access
- Public portal
Common questions
How can RASFF notifications support a food adulteration investigation?+
A search of the public RASFF database can show whether a specific product, brand, or country of origin was already flagged for the same contaminant elsewhere in the EU, corroborating a laboratory's own findings on a sample such as adulterated turmeric or edible oil.
Does a RASFF notification apply outside the EU?+
RASFF is an EU mechanism, so it does not directly cover food sold only outside the EU market. Other jurisdictions maintain their own alert systems, and investigators working outside the EU treat RASFF entries as corroborating international intelligence rather than a domestic legal record.
Related terms
- Acid-Insoluble Ash
- The fraction of a food's mineral content that does not dissolve in 10% hydrochloric acid, reflecting mineral adulterants (brick, sand, talc, soil)....
- Epidemic Dropsy
- The clinical syndrome caused by sanguinarine from argemone-oil-adulterated mustard oil: bilateral pitting oedema, erythema with brownish discolouration, glaucoma from trabecular meshwork permeability...
- FSSAI Manual of Methods
- The Indian reference method catalogue (Manual of Methods of Analysis of Foods), published by the Food Safety Division of the Ministry of...
- HHXRF
- Handheld X-ray fluorescence spectrometry: a portable elemental analysis method that detects characteristic X-ray emission from elements in the sample. Used for field...
- ICP-MS
- Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry: the laboratory reference method for trace element quantification in food matrices. Uses high-temperature argon plasma to atomise...
- Lead Chromate (PbCrO4)
- Chrome yellow, a synthetic inorganic pigment historically used in industrial paints and road markings. Added to turmeric to intensify the yellow colour;...
- Lead Isotope Source Attribution
- A forensic tool for tracing the geological or industrial origin of lead in a sample. The 206Pb/207Pb and 208Pb/206Pb ratios are characteristic...
- Sanguinarine
- A benzophenanthridine alkaloid (C20H14NO4+) present in Argemone mexicana seed oil. The principal toxic component of argemone-oil contamination in mustard oil; inhibits pyruvate...
- Sudan Dyes (I-IV)
- Fat-soluble monoazo and bisazo synthetic pigments (MW 248-380 g/mol) prohibited in food globally; added to chilli and paprika to enhance red colour....