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A Codex MRL is the
maximum concentration of (pesticide) residues intended to be legally
permitted in or on food commodities and animal feeds. For organochlorine
pesticides (OCPs), the MRL values set forth by the Codex Alimentarius
Commission are on fat basis for meat other than marine mammals, just like
those provided by the European Commission. Since OCPs tend to concentrate
and stay in fatty tissues, and upon proper adjustment for fat intake from
fish, either the Codex’s or the European Commission’s MRLs may be used with
caution to set health advisories or even legal actions. It is perhaps based
on this notion that some POC residues in fish are still reported on fat
basis in the literature. |