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Current Issues

FOOD SAFETY NEWS SPECIAL - 1

CODEX ALIMENTARIUS COMMISSION

 

Issued by the Department of Food Safety, Zoonoses and Foodborne Diseases
World Health Organization
http://www.who.int/foodsafety
foodsafety@who.int
Should you wish to unsubscribe at any time, please send an e-mail to foodsafety@who.int with "Unsubscribe FOS newsletter" in the subject line.

                                                                                                                                          

This Food Safety News Special Codex Alimentarius Commission is prepared to give daily
updates during the Thirty-first Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission
in Geneva, Switzerland, 30 June – 4 July 2008

The Thirty-first Session of Codex Alimentarius Commission opened Monday, 30 June 2008, in Geneva. Over six hundred participants representing 124 countries are involved in the meetings.

AMONG THE DAY ONE HIGHLIGHTS:

Adoption of “Maximum Levels for Total Aflatoxins in Almonds, Hazelnuts and Pistachios ‘for further processing’ and ‘ready-to-eat’”

Maximum levels of 10μg/kg and 15 μg/kg for total aflatoxins in almonds, hazelnuts and pistachios "ready-to-eat" and “for further processing", respectively, were agreed.

Aflatoxins are natural toxins that contaminate corn, peanuts and other food crops under certain conditions. Aflatoxins are also known carcinogens in laboratory animals

Adoption of "Code of Hygienic Practice for Powdered Formulae for Infants and Young Children"

Enterobacter sakazakii and Salmonella enterica are the two organisms of most concern in powdered infant formula (PIF). Severe illnesses and sometimes deaths have been attributed to contaminated PIF, at either the manufacturing or preparation stage.

The adoption of this code is expected to be able to reduce contamination and further protect lives of babies being fed infant formula, because the recommended breastfeeding is for some reason not possible.

Adoption of “Codex Standard for Foods for Special Dietary Use for Persons Intolerant to Gluten”

According to the standard, gluten-free food may not contain wheat, rye, barley, oats AND its gluten level may not exceed 20mg/kg in total. This will allow better protection for people who are allergic to gluten. Gluten intolerance can lead to different reaction in people: from abdominal pain to osteoporosis.

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In other developments, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) was presented with the second World Health Organization’s Food Safety Award in recognition of their international contributions in promoting improved food safety in the global community. The award was presented to Dr Alan Reilly, Deputy Chief Executive, on behalf of the FSAI.

WHO Food Safety Award on Food Safety Webpage: www.who.int/foodsafety/fs_management/fs_award/en/

FSAI Press Release on WHO Food Safety Award: www.fsai.ie/news/press/pr_08/pr20080630.asp

Meanwhile, the nomination period for the Commission’s Chairperson is open and will close by noon Tuesday.

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For more information, please visit the Codex Alimentarius website: www.codexalimentarius.net/web/index_en.jsp


 

Day Two - 1 July 2008


The meeting continued throughout the day – including the election of the new chairperson for the Commission.

AMONG DAY TWO HIGHLIGHTS:

Dr Karen Hulebak (U.S. Department of Agriculture) from the United States of America has been elected as the Codex Alimentarius Commission Chairperson.

As the first woman to serve as chair, Dr Hulebak will replace Dr Claude Mosha from the United Republic of Tanzania who led the Commission for the last three years (three terms).


Adoption of “Guidelines for the Conduct of Food Safety Assessment of Food Derived from Recombinant-DNA Animals”

These guidelines aim to ensure that foods derived from recombinant-DNA animals will receive proper and relevant risk assessment before being introduced into markets. Similar Codex guidelines for risk assessment of genetically-modified plants and microorganisms already exist. The currently marketed genetically-modified foods derived from plants and microorganisms have gone through proper risk assessment and have been demonstrated safe in relation to human health.


Agreement to undertake new work on “Development of Risk Management Guidance to Contain Foodborne Antimicrobial Resistant Microorganisms”

The Commission agreed to undertake work to develop guidance to help minimize the spread of antimicrobial resistance at all stages of the food-chain. Antimicrobial agents are widely used in humans and food-producing animals in order to treat or prevent disease, as production aids or even preservatives. Their use in animals can create resistance in important human pathogenic microorganisms. This is increasingly perceived as a threat to public health.

Agreement to undertake new work on “Revision of the Guidelines on Nutrition Labelling – implementation of the Global Strategy for Diet, Physical activity and Health”

The Commission agreed to revise the current labelling guidelines to improve the way it is done.

Food labels should contain all relevant information for the consumers in an understandable format. Nutrition information on food labels can contribute to consumer’s capacity to adopt healthy eating habits that may contribute to prevent non-communicable diseases.


Codex e-learning
A Codex e-learning session was held to introduce delegations to the new online FAO/WHO e-learning facility on Codex. The initiative will help in improve understanding of the international standard setting system of Codex, especially for delegates from developing countries.

For more information about Codex e-learning: www.fao.org/ag/agn/agns/capacity_elearning_codex_en.asp 

Meanwhile, the nomination period for the Codex Alimentarius Commission’s Vice Chairperson is open today from 09h30 until 15h00.

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For more information, please visit the Codex Alimentarius website: www.codexalimentarius


 

FOOD SAFETY NEWS SPECIAL - 3

CODEX ALIMENTARIUS COMMISSION

 

Issued by the Department of Food Safety, Zoonoses and Foodborne Diseases
World Health Organization
http://www.who.int/foodsafety
foodsafety@who.int
Should you wish to unsubscribe at any time, please send an e-mail to foodsafety@who.int with "Unsubscribe FOS newsletter" in the subject line.

                                                                                                                                          

This Food Safety News Special Codex Alimentarius Commission is prepared to give daily
updates during the Thirty-first Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission
in Geneva, Switzerland, 30 June – 4 July 2008

Day Three - 2 July 2008

The Commission meeting continued throughout the third day concentrating mainly on administrative issues. Continuing the transition to new commission leadership, three new commission vice-chairpersons were elected.

AMONG DAY THREE HIGHLIGHTS:

Mr Sanjay DAVE (Agricultural and Proceeded Food Products Exports, Development Authority) from India, Dr Ben MANYINDO (Uganda Bureau of Standards) from Uganda and Mr Knud Østergaard (Danish Veterinary and Food Administration) from Denmark have been elected on Wednesday as Codex Alimentarius Commission Vice-Chairpersons.

Due to resource constraints, the Codex Executive Committee will only hold three meetings in the 2008-2009 biennium, instead of four, and the introduction of Russian as a language of the Commission will be delayed.

The Commission debated on how to further increase participation – especially that of developing countries – to the over 20 international meetings held by the subsidiary bodies of the Commission every year

At the current Session, 78% of the Member States participated. Financial barriers can limit attendance by many Member States. The Codex Trust Fund is one of the solutions for assisting countries to facilitate their participation in the vital work of the Commission.

International intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations
Day three also provided an opportunity for presentations from several international intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations that have a close collaboration with the Codex Alimentarius Commission. The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) gave updates on their recent activities relevant to the work of the Codex.

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Press conference
A closing press conference will be held on Friday, 4 July, 12:30-13:00 (Geneva time) in Salle 13, Geneva International Conference Centre (CICG), Geneva, Switzerland.

Journalists from outside Geneva may participate through a dial-in number that will be made available.

For more details, please contact:
Ms Sari SETIOGI, Media Relations Officer, World Health Organization: +41 79 701 9467,
setiogis@who.int; or

Ms Teresa BUERKLE, Information Officer, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations:  +41 76 531 9934, tbuerkle@unog.ch

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For more information, please visit the Codex Alimentarius website


 

FOOD SAFETY NEWS SPECIAL - 4

CODEX ALIMENTARIUS COMMISSION

 

Issued by the Department of Food Safety, Zoonoses and Foodborne Diseases
World Health Organization
http://www.who.int/foodsafety
foodsafety@who.int
Should you wish to unsubscribe at any time, please send an e-mail to foodsafety@who.int with "Unsubscribe FOS newsletter" in the subject line.

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This Food Safety News Special Codex Alimentarius Commission is prepared to give daily
updates during the Thirty-first Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission
in Geneva, Switzerland, 30 June – 4 July 2008

Day Four - 3 July 2008

A relatively short day in plenary as the general meeting ended its debates shortly before lunch time. Additional side event meetings were held through the afternoon as the Secretariat prepared the meeting report to be reviewed by the Commission on the last day.

AMONG DAY FOUR HIGHLIGHTS:


e-Task Force on Animal Feeding

Discussion on Future Work on Animal Feeding led to the decision to form an e-Task Force on Animal Feeding which will be hosted and co-hosted by Denmark and Mexico.

The e-Task Force will develop guidance for risk assessment on animal feed safety as well as revise an existing code on feed safety.

Better risk assessment on animal feed safety could better respond to and prevent foodborne diseases in animals, such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), better known as “mad cow disease”.


Lactoperoxidase System for Milk and Milk Products in International Trade

Discussion on restriction on the use of Lactoperoxidase System for Milk and Milk Products in International Trade will continue at the next Codex Alimentarius Commission meeting. Lactoperoxidase is a chemical used to preserve milk and milk products when refrigeration is not available. The system has been used within domestic trade in several countries for years.

Informal meeting on the Codex Trust Fund
The informal meeting on the Codex Trust Fund concentrated on monitoring and evaluating the impact of the Trust Fund. Developing countries gave a clear message that they are ready and willing to take the lead in documenting impacts of participation in their countries. This documentation will be used to provide examples for other countries, as well as to advocate for increased and sustainable funding for the Trust Fund.

Informal Meeting on the Provision of Scientific Advice and its Sustainable Funding
In another side event on scientific advice, FAO and WHO presented their current processes and work to provide scientific advice to the Codex and Member States. It was announced that more scientific works which are related to nutrition will take place in the coming years. Previously most advice provided by FAO and WHO has focused on food safety issues.

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Friday, 4 July, is the last day of the five-day meeting of the Codex Alimentarius Commission. The Commission is expected to review and adopt the report from the Session by 17:00.

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For more information, please visit the Codex Alimentarius website: www.codexalimentarius.net/web/index_en.jsp

 

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