If you make processed food, you must keep contaminants and pesticide residues within their legal limits and control the harmful substances that form during processing. These controls sit inside your hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) plan — they are part of how you keep food safe, not a separate exercise.
The risks spread across the sector. Acrylamide forms when you bake, fry or roast starchy foods such as bread, biscuits, crisps and roasted coffee, so you must apply mitigation measures to keep it as low as reasonably achievable. Cadmium accumulates in cocoa and chocolate. Dioxins can be present in refined vegetable oils and fats. Ochratoxin A is a mould toxin found in coffee, dried fruit and spices. Pesticide residues travel through fruit, vegetables and cereals you bring in as ingredients. Each has a maximum level or benchmark you must not exceed.
The retained EU contaminant, acrylamide and pesticide residue limits apply across the whole UK. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) administers these rules in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and Food Standards Scotland (FSS) administers them in Scotland. Your local authority enforces them.
Monitor contaminants and residues
Build contaminant and residue monitoring into your food safety management system. The snippet below sets out the controls and the limits or benchmark levels you must meet. It covers acrylamide mitigation for bread, biscuits and other baked or fried products, cadmium in cocoa and chocolate, dioxins in vegetable oils, ochratoxin A in coffee and spices, and pesticide maximum residue levels in the ingredients you use.
Get authorisation for novel foods and additives
If you want to use an ingredient, additive or production process that was not used for human consumption to a significant degree before May 1997, you may need authorisation before you can place it on the market. Check whether your ingredient counts as a novel food and follow the authorisation route before you launch.
Follow the special rules for infant formula and food for special medical purposes
Infant formula, follow-on formula, baby food and food for special medical purposes face stricter compositional and labelling rules than ordinary food, and you must notify the authorities before you place certain products on the market. The snippet below is framed around England, where you notify the FSA. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have equivalent notification routes through the FSA or FSS.
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1. Check incoming ingredients
Test or obtain supplier declarations for high-risk inputs — cocoa, edible oils, coffee, spices, dried fruit, cereals, and any fruit and vegetables — so you know contaminant and pesticide residue levels before they enter your process.
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2. Apply process controls
Set and monitor the process parameters that limit contaminant formation, such as baking and frying temperatures and finished-product colour for acrylamide. Record the controls in your HACCP plan.
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3. Monitor finished products
Sample and test finished products against the relevant maximum or benchmark levels for the contaminants that apply to what you make, and keep the records.
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4. Notify or seek authorisation where required
Get authorisation before using a novel food or additive, and notify the FSA or FSS before placing infant formula, baby food or food for special medical purposes on the market.
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5. Document everything in HACCP
Hold your supplier declarations, process controls, test results, authorisations and notifications inside your food safety management system so you can show compliance on inspection.
What to do next
These contaminant and composition controls sit on top of the universal food safety obligations every manufacturer must meet. Work through the safe-food spine guide to cover registration, HACCP and labelling, then use the food safety compliance checklist to confirm nothing is missing before you trade.
Official sources
Check the current limits, benchmark levels and guidance with the regulators.