Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Independent)
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114. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he has informed himself of best international practice regarding the growing of food crops in the region of waste incinerators; if he will offer advice to commercial and domestic growers of food, in particular to growers of soft fruit and leafy vegetables in such regions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24393/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Commercial producers of fresh fruit and vegetables (including potatoes and edible fungi) are required to register as food producers with my Department.

My Department carries out inspections of these producers, based on risk assessment, to ensure compliance with food safety regulations.

In addition, any food containing a contaminant in an amount which is unacceptable from the public health viewpoint and, in particular, at a toxicologically significant level, must not be placed on the market. Furthermore, contaminant levels must be kept as low as can be reasonably achieved by following good agricultural practices.

The general European Union procedures for contaminants in food are set down in Council Regulation No. 315/93. A 'contaminant' for the purposes of the Regulation is defined as: 'any substance not intentionally added to food which is present in such food as a result of the production, manufacture, processing, preparation, treatment, packing, packaging, transport or holding of such food or as a result of environmental contamination'.

To protect public health, Regulation No 315/93 provides that maximum levels be set for certain contaminants as part of a non-exhaustive EU list. This list is set out in Commission Regulation No 1881/2006. This Regulation requires that the foodstuffs listed in the Annex are not placed on the market where they contain a contaminant listed in the Annex at a level exceeding the maximum level as set out in the Annex. Fruit and vegetables are among the foodstuffs listed in this Regulation. My Department implements a monitoring programme for chemical contaminants in fruit and vegetables.

My Department would advise food producers that food safety and quality assurance in fresh fruit and vegetables should be an ongoing process that incorporates activities from the selection and preparation of the site, assessing and monitoring the soils, manures and irrigation used in production through to the final preparation and distribution of the product. Both food safety and quality assurance should focus on the prevention of problems since, once safety or quality has been reduced, it is difficult or impossible to restore.