Arsenic can not only be present in water, but also in wine. The reason is obvious, all the metals that leach into the earth (such as cadmium or lead) can contaminate this ancient drink made from grape juice. That is why researchers from the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM) ask that critical control points related to contamination risks be more closely monitored.
After analyzing in a new study the level of compliance of Spanish wineries with European food safety legislation in relation to metals and whether their risk management in this regard is effective or not; This investigation has concluded that it is not entirely so.
“The performance of wineries in identifying the applicable legislation on the risk of contamination by heavy metals and metalloids is very low,” explained Jesús López Santiago, from the Higher Technical School of Agronomic, Food and Biosystems Engineering of the UPM. and co-author of the study. This happens despite the fact that legislation requires winemakers to ensure effective control of the presence of arsenic, cadmium and lead.
The new UPM research has evaluated how wineries manage the Critical Control Points (CCP) where contamination can occur, through three indicators associated with this performance: training, legislation (level of compliance) and physicochemical analysis (presence of contaminants). What they have found is that although the vast majority of wineries have data on the physical and chemical analysis of the vineyard soils and the fertilizers used, they do not have as much information on the concentrations of arsenic, cadmium and lead that are in the land.
“Only a third of wineries have data on the cumulative levels of concentrations of arsenic, cadmium and lead in the soil, and this proportion decreases even more when it comes to the concentrations of these metals in the soil solution,” indicated María. Teresa González Villarino, another of the co-authors of the research. “The lack of spectrometry equipment in wineries is a significant barrier to good performance in controlling arsenic, cadmium and lead contamination in grapes and wines,” she adds.
The international magazine Heliyon has been commissioned to publish the results of this new work, in which the Malaysian Institute of Chemical has also participated.
