Pyrrolizidine alkaloids in feed: Recommendation (EU) 2026/1210 — 27 alkaloids plus 14 co-eluting ones by LC-MS/MS with a limit of quantification of 10 μg/kg, data to EFSA by 30 June 2028
Commission Recommendation (EU) 2026/1210 of 9 June 2026, published on 10 June, recommends that Member States, with the active involvement of feed business operators, monitor pyrrolizidine alkaloids in feed. It is meant to provide data before any risk management measures — EFSA’s database holds only limited results for feed.
- An estimated 6,000 plant species may contain pyrrolizidine alkaloids; animals are exposed through feed contaminated with plants of the Senecioneae and Boraginaceae. Alfalfa green fodder is sometimes contaminated with significant amounts, so horses and rabbits may be more exposed; herbs, herb mixtures and plant extracts used in feed can also be a source.
- The recommendation lists 27 alkaloids — including intermedine/lycopsamine, senecionine/senecivernine, seneciphylline, retrorsine, echimidine, lasiocarpine, europine, heliotrine, jacobine, jaconine, erucifoline and their N-oxides, plus senkirkine — and 14 more that co-elute with them in some current methods: indicine, echinatine, rinderine, integerrimine, heliosupine, spartioidine, usaramine and their N-oxides.
- The recommended method is LC-MS/MS (others if they give reliable results for individual alkaloids), with a limit of quantification of 10 μg/kg for each alkaloid. The EU reference laboratory published a method for feed in 2020 and CEN issued standard EN 17683 in 2023; according to the Spanish centre AINIA, the 2020 method was developed by Wageningen Food Safety Research. Sampling follows Regulation (EC) No 152/2009.
- Monitoring should cover grass silage, hay, dried forage and roughage such as alfalfa and sainfoin, herbs, herb mixtures and plant extracts, and compound feed containing them. Results in SSD2 format go to EFSA by 30 June 2028; for silage, hay and forage the mowing date must be given, as alkaloid content depends on it.