Web-based Korean maximum residue limit evaluation tools: an applied example of maximum residue limit evaluation for trichlorfon in fishery products

To ensure public safety against veterinary drug residues in food products from animal sources, maximum residue limits (MRLs) should be established by scientific evidence and a transparent estimation process. The Joint Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)/World Health Organization (WHO) Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) developed an Excel workbook-based tool for MRLs evaluation in 2003. In this study, we developed a web-based tool for MRL evaluation, called Korean MRL evaluation tools (KMET). While KMET used algorithms of JECFA workbook, it added some databases (e.g., Korean food consumption database) and provided additional functions (e.g., selection of target marker residue). Web-based KMET enabled regulatory policy makers to update the database. All input data and output results related to MRL evaluation based on residue depletion and food consumption datasets were archived and provided overall processes from the initial depletion data entry to MRL establishment with user-friendly interface. Our results demonstrated the stepwise processes whereby MRL for trichlorfon in the muscle of Paralichthys olivaceus was established with functional descriptions of KMET. MRL for trichlorfon derived from KMET was proposed and notified by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in 2018.