Joint International Conference on Long-term Experiments ...

FROM FARM TO FORK – EVALUATION OF CROPPING FIELDS WITH
REGARD TO FOOD AND FEED SAFETY AFTER LONG-STANDING
CULTIVATION
Péter Sipos, Zsuzsanna Szathmáry, Árpád Tóth, Diána Ungai,
Dóra Hovánszki, Zoltán Győri
University of Debrecen, Centre of Agricultural Sciences, Institute of Food Science,
Quality Assurance and Microbiology
138 Böszörményi Street, Debrecen, H-4032, Hungary
ABSTRACT
From the aspects of quality control system in accordance to food safety, the pesticide
residues and toxic or potentially toxic elements are important parameters to examine not
only from the products and its raw materials point of view, but from the external
resources (as soil and applied matters, e.g. manure) as well. The sensitivity and
accumulation properties of the different plants and cultures is different according to the
above mentioned factors, and the aim of production also determines the upper level of
limit values. On the other hand, in regulations of several countries like Hungary there is
no differentation as regards utilization and accumulation properties.
In a case study we have examined the soil parameters of food safety of differently
utilised (intensive cereal production, extensive meadow and bio production) cropping
fields which were cultivated for a long time, so the presence of contaminants in the soil
profile was assumed. We found that the examined fields are suitable for producing safe
foods, but in the case of intensive cultivation some accumulation of pesticides and
heavy metals is observable.
Keywords: food safety, pesticide remains, toxic elements, different levels of land use
INTRODUCTION
In latest decades there has been an increasing demand to extend the more or less
developed quality control system of food product processing to the raw material
production and supply. This would lead to getting closer to the fully introduced food
and feed safety in the whole plant-animal processing line. Beside this, it was obligatory
to apply the HACCP system by food processors and traders. The picture of applied
quality control systems is very diverse nowadays; strict application and monitoring is
used in the processing of horticultural crops, but in the case of field crops, especially
cereals and forage crops it is far from being effective.
To examine the possibilities of the development of a quality control system in the
whole plant-feed-animal-food chain, i.e. “from farm to fork” we have started a research
program with the contribution of industrial partners. Our aim is to create a base
specification that helps to apply the ISO 22000 standard and to develop a quality control
and tracing system specified for Hungarian circumstances. To examine the process we
made a case study for each contributor. To determine whether the fields taken into these
examinations are suitable for safe production, we analysed their pesticide remains and
heavy metal content. On these sites the crop production activity has been lasting for a
long time, so these examinations seemed necessary, because of the applied
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