Collection of internationally recognized standards
The
Codex Alimentarius
(
Latin
for 'Food Code') is a collection of internationally recognized standards, codes of practice, guidelines, and other recommendations published by the
Food and Agriculture Organization
of the United Nations relating to
food
,
food production
,
food labeling
, and
food safety
.
History and governance
[
edit
]
Its name is derived from the
Codex Alimentarius Austriacus
.
[1]
Its texts are developed and maintained by the
Codex Alimentarius Commission
(CAC), a body established in early November 1961 by the
Food and Agriculture Organization
of the
United Nations
(FAO), was joined by the
World Health Organization
(WHO) in June 1962, and held its first session in Rome in October 1963.
[2]
The Commission's main goals are to
protect the health of consumers
, to facilitate
international trade
, and ensure fair practices in the international food trade.
[3]
The CAC is an
intergovernmental organization
; the member states of the FAO and WHO send delegations to the CAC.
[4]
As of 2021, there were 189 members of the CAC (188 member countries plus one member organization, the
European Union
(EU)
[5]
and 239 Codex observers (59 intergovernmental organizations, 164
non-governmental organizations
, and 16
United Nations organizations
).
[6]
The CAC develops food standards on scientific evidence furnished by the scientific committees of the FAO and WHO; the oldest of these, the
Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives
(JECFA), was established in 1956 and predates the establishment of the CAC itself.
[4]
According to a 2013 study, the CAC's primary functions are "establishing international food standards for approved food additives providing maximum levels in foods, maximum limits for contaminants and toxins, maximum residue limits for pesticides and for veterinary drugs used in veterinary animals, and establishing hygiene and technological function practice codes".
[4]
The CAC does not have regulatory authority, and the
Codex Alimentarius
is a reference guide, not an enforceable standard on its own.
[4]
However, several nations adopt the
Codex Alimentarius
in their own regulations, and the
World Trade Organization
(WTO), for purposes of food safety, refers to the
Codex Alimentarius
Sanitary and Phytosanitary practice codes in the
Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures
(SPS Agreement) for member countries.
[4]
The
Codex Alimentarius
is thus an international reference point for the
resolution of international trade disputes
concerning food safety and consumer protection.
[3]
[7]
Many
bilateral
and
multilateral trade agreements
refer to the
Codex Alimentarius
, adopting it as a point of reference.
[3]
Scope
[
edit
]
The Codex Alimentarius covers all foods, whether processed, semi-processed or
raw
. In addition to standards for specific foods, the Codex Alimentarius contains general standards covering matters such as
food labeling
, food
hygiene
,
food additives
and
pesticide
residues, and procedures for assessing the safety of foods derived from modern
biotechnology
. It also contains guidelines for the management of official i.e. governmental
import
and
export
inspection and
certification
systems for foods.
[
citation needed
]
The Codex Alimentarius is published in the six
official languages of the United Nations
:
Arabic
,
Chinese
,
English
,
French
,
Spanish
and
Russian
.
[8]
Not all texts are available in all languages.
As of 2017, the CAC had a total of 78 guidelines, 221 commodity standards, 53 codes of practice, and 106 maximum levels for contaminants of food (of which 18 covered contaminants).
[3]
In a 2018 publication, the CAC stated that: "Codex has at times been criticized as slow to complete its work, but developing food standards and compiling them as a code that is credible and authoritative requires extensive consultation. It also takes time for information to be collected and evaluated, for follow-up and verification and, at times, for consensus to be found
satisfying differing views. Overall, it takes an average of 4.2 years to develop a Codex standard ? and significantly less for pesticide MRLs or food additive levels."
[3]
General texts
[
edit
]
- Food labelling
(general standard, guidelines on
nutrition
labelling, guidelines on labelling claims)
- Food additives
(general standard including authorized uses, specifications for food grade chemicals)
- Contaminants
in foods (general standard, tolerances for specific contaminants including
radionuclides
,
aflatoxins
and other
mycotoxins
)
- Pesticide
and veterinary chemical residues in foods (maximum residue limits)
- Risk assessment
procedures for determining the safety of foods derived from biotechnology (
DNA
-modified plants, DNA-modified
micro-organisms
,
allergens
)
- Food
hygiene
(general principles, codes of hygienic practice in specific industries or food handling establishments, guidelines for the use of the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point or “
HACCP
” system)
- Methods of analysis and sampling
Specific standards
[
edit
]
- Meat
products (fresh, frozen, processed meats and
poultry
)
- Fish
and
fishery
products (marine, fresh water and
aquaculture
)
- Milk
and milk products
- Foods for special
dietary
uses (including
infant formula
and
baby foods
)
- Fresh and processed
vegetables
,
fruits
, and
fruit juices
- Cereals
and derived products, dried
legumes
- Fats, oils and derived products such as
margarine
- Miscellaneous food products (
chocolate
,
sugar
,
honey
,
mineral water
)
Classification of supplements and additives
[
edit
]
In 1996 the German delegation, sponsored by three German pharmaceutical firms, put forward a proposal that no herb, vitamin or mineral should be sold for preventive or therapeutic reasons, and that supplements should be reclassified as drugs.
[9]
The proposal was agreed, but protests halted its implementation.
[9]
The 28th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission was subsequently held July 4?9, 2005.
[10]
Among the many issues discussed were the
Guidelines for
Vitamin
and Mineral
Food Supplements
,
[11]
which were adopted during the meeting as new global safety guidelines: The guidelines state that "people should...be encouraged to select a balanced diet from food before considering any vitamin and mineral supplement. In cases where the intake from the diet is insufficient or where consumers consider their diet requires supplementation, vitamin and mineral
food supplements
serve to supplement the daily diet."
[11]
[12]
The Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) has said that the Guidelines call "for labelling that contains information on maximum consumption levels of vitamin and mineral food supplements". The WHO has also said that the Guidelines "ensure that consumers receive beneficial health effects from vitamins and minerals".
[12]
In 2004, similarities were noted between the EU's
Food Supplements Directive
and the Codex Alimentarius draft guidelines for vitamin and mineral supplements.
[13]
Criticism
[
edit
]
The 2003 International Commission of the Future of Food and Agriculture, convened by Italian politician
Claudio Martini
and chaired by anti-globalization activist
Vandana Shiva
, issued several manifestos,
[14]
including the Manifesto on the Future of Food, which contended that "bureaucracies like the World Trade Organization, the World Bank, the
International Monetary Fund
, and the Codex Alimentarius have codified policies designed to serve the interests of global
agribusiness
above all others, while actively undermining the rights of farmers and consumers".
[15]
Conspiracy theories
[
edit
]
The Codex Alimentarius has been the subject of various conspiracy theories. These theorize that it is an agenda for population control, an anti-supplement Big Brother initiative, actually establishes eugenics, or a process for World Government establishment.
[16]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Codex Alimentarius
: how it all began
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations website. Accessed 6 September 2012.
- ^
Codex timeline from 1945 to the present
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Understanding Codex
, World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (5th ed. Sept. 2018).
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Bernadene Magnuson; Ian Munro; Peter Abbot; Nigel Baldwin; Rebeca Lopez-Garcia; Karen Ly; Larry McGirr; Ashley Roberts; Susan Socolovsky (2013).
"Review of the regulation and safety assessment of food substances in various countries and jurisdictions"
.
Food Additives & Contaminants: Part A
.
30
(7): 1214, 1248.
doi
:
10.1080/19440049.2013.795293
.
ISSN
1944-0049
.
OCLC
8145766001
.
PMC
3725665
.
PMID
23781843
.
- ^
Members
: Codex Alimentarius Commission
- ^
Codex Observers
, Food and Agriculture Organization, United Nations (last accessed August 31, 2021).
- ^
Understanding the WTO Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures
, World Trade Organization (May 1998).
- ^
"CODEX Alimentarius: Understanding Codex"
. FAO and WHO. 1999
. Retrieved
6 September
2012
.
Understanding Codex is available in English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese and Russian version.
- ^
a
b
'Health supplements: R.I.P.'. The Guardian newspaper, UK.
Published 14 September 2002. Accessed 2 August 2008
- ^
CODEX ALIMENTARIUS COMMISSION, REPORT OF THE TWENTY-EIGHTH SESSION, Rome, 4 ? 9 July 2005
(Report). Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme. 2005.
ISBN
92-5-105405-3
. Retrieved
27 November
2022
.
- ^
a
b
Codex Guidelines for Vitamin and Mineral Food Supplements
- ^
a
b
"UN commission adopts safety guidelines for vitamin and food supplements"
. United Nations News Centre. 11 July 2005
. Retrieved
17 September
2012
.
- ^
Rose Shepherd (29 February 2004).
"Nil by mouth"
. The Observer, Guardian UK
. Retrieved
17 September
2012
.
- ^
Janet McIntyre-Mills,
Systemic Ethics and Non-Anthropocentric Stewardship: Implications for Transdisciplinary and Cosmopolitan Politics
(Springer, 2014), p. 28.
- ^
The International Commission on the Future of Food and Agriculture (July 15, 2003).
"Manifesto on the Future of Food"
(PDF)
. Archived from the original on June 2, 2005.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (
link
)
- ^
Rothschild, Mike (3 June 2013).
"Codex Alimentarius: Book of Food or Book of Death?"
.
Skeptoid
. Retrieved
2 November
2019
.
External links
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