Contaminant and residue profiles in Lebanese food: a comparative analysis with global standards

Abstract

Lebanon’s agricultural sector, known for its diverse crop and livestock production, faces challenges in the international market due to the presence of chemical residues and contaminants in its food exports. Recent rejections of these exports have raised global concerns about food safety, increasingly seen as vital for public health and economic prosperity. This review focuses on examining scientific studies about the levels of various chemical residues including pesticides, and veterinary drugs and contaminants like mycotoxins, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and heavy metals in Lebanese food products. Findings indicate that these residues and contaminants often exceed both the maximum residue limits (MRLs) and maximum limits (MLs) set by the Codex Alimentarius and the European Union. The review concludes with recommendations for reducing these contaminants and residues to enhance Lebanon’s food safety and quality, aligning with international standards, and mitigating the risk of export rejections.

Keywords:

• Food safety
• public health
• chemical contaminants
• chemical residues Lebanon
• food quality improvement
• Codex Alimentarius standards

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Lebanese National Council for Scientific Research (CNRSL); the Lebanese Atomic Energy Commission (LAEC) for its continuous scientific support throughout the project. The authors would like also to acknowledge the Lebanese University (LU).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Lebanese National Council for Scientific Research (CNRSL); the Lebanese Atomic Energy Commission (LAEC).