Govt. accused of trying to revise ‘Aflatoxin’ limit in children’s food

The Public Health Inspectors’ Union (PHIU) alleges that the government is attempting to revise the permissible limit of ‘Aflatoxin’ contained in food supplements given to small children.

The Treasurer of the association, Roshan Kumara emphasized that if such a decision is taken, it will be a serious threat to the healthcare of the children in Sri Lanka.

The Public Health Inspectors’ Union made this allegation while joining a press conference held in Colombo.

Meanwhile, on November 21, 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers decided to revise the permissible Aflatoxin levels for local food supplement programmes, proportionate to those limits set in globally recognised food supplements.

Accordingly, the revision of the permissible levels of Aflatoxin had been discussed in the context of the Thriposha programme, provided under the Maternal and Child Health Program implemented by the Ministry.

Nevertheless, since the Ministry of Health highlighted the difficulty in procuring maize for the production of Thriposha at the time, due to the stringent permissible limits for Aflatoxin as prescribed in the existing regulations under the Food Act No. 26 of 1980, it was proposed that the limitations imposed on Aflatoxin levels in internationally accredited food supplements (5ppb for type B1 and level 10 ppb of total Aflatoxin) be implemented to local food supplement programmes as well.