Maximum levels for aflatoxin B1 and for the sum of aflatoxins B1, B2, G1 and G2 in tree nuts, groundnuts and their products are set by Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/915 on maximum levels for certain contaminants in food, which replaced Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006. Read the consolidated text in force on the day of shipment; the figures are amended regularly.
Why it works this way
The structure of the regulation matters more to a buyer than any single figure. It sets different lines for the same nut depending on its intended use: one for nuts placed on the market for the final consumer or as an ingredient in food, and a more permissive one for nuts intended to be subjected to sorting or other physical treatment before human consumption. The second line exists because sorting demonstrably removes contaminated kernels, so a raw lot destined for a sorting line is judged on what it will become rather than on what it is.
The consequence is contractual. A lot bought against the sorting line cannot be sold on to retail without the sorting step, and the accompanying documentation and labelling have to state that the product is destined for sorting. A specification that names a number without naming which line it comes from has left the material term open.
Different maximum levels also apply across product groups, so almonds, hazelnuts, pistachios, Brazil nuts, groundnuts and the general tree nut group are not all treated identically, and dried figs and some other commodities sit on their own lines entirely.
What follows in practice
Write the intended-use line into the specification, name Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/915 rather than copying a figure, and require the sampling scheme in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2782 to be followed. Aflatoxin management in tree nuts covers the control programme, and how aflatoxin testing works covers the analysis.