Codex Alimentarius Commission 38th Session, Geneva, Switzerland

Gerald Moy

The Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) held its 38^th Session in Geneva, Switzerland, from 6-11 July 2015. Awilo Ochieng Pernet (Switzerland), Chairperson of the Commission, presided over the session, assisted by the Vice-Chairpersons Guilherme Antonio da Costa Jr. (Brazil), Yayoi Tsujiyama (Japan) and Mahamadou Sako (Mali). The session was attended by delegates from 140 Member countries and one Member Organisation, and 33 international governmental and non-governmental organisations, including the [US] Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) represented by Dr Karen Hulebek and the International Union of Food Science and Technology (IUFoST) represented by Dr Gerald Moy.

The CAC adopted 36 standards, including standards for ginseng and various canned fruits and frozen vegetables.  The standard for ginseng was converted to a worldwide standard from its past status as a regional standard. The new standard applies to ginseng products world-wide that are used as a food or food ingredient and does not apply to products used for medicinal purposes. The worldwide standard specifies the identity and essential composition and quality factors that ginseng products used as foods should comply with to ensure fair practices in their trade.

The CAC also adopted maximum levels of lead for canned foods and fruit juices.  The CAC recommends that no more than 0.1 mg/kg lead should be permitted in certain canned fruit and vegetables, 0.03 mg/kg for fruit juices and nectars, and 0.05 mg/kg for juices made from berries and other small fruits.  A reference value for potassium, i.e. intake level to achieve 3500 mg/day  of potassium for adults, was adopted to be included in the Codex Guideline on Nutrition Labelling.

The CAC established maximum levels for the presence of deoxynivalenol (DON) at 0.2 mg/kg of cereal-based foods for infants and young children, 1 mg/kg of flour, meal, semolina or flakes derived from wheat, maize or barley, and 2 mg/kg of wheat, maize and barley destined for further processing. DON (also known as "vomitoxin" because of its acute effects) is a toxin produced by a certain mold that can grow on grains, such as wheat, barley and maize. These toxins are common in many parts of the world where they can have a negative effect on human health.

A number of standards for food additives and residues of pesticides and veterinary drugs were adopted by the CAC based on favorable evaluations by the FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) or the FAO/WHO Joint Meeting on Pesticide Residues (JMPR).  The CAC also recommended that residues of the pesticides dimetridazole, ipronidazole, metronidazole and ronidazole in food-producing animals should be avoided. The draft maximum residue limits (MRLs) for recombinant bovine somatotropin hormone (rBST) was again held at step 8 to provide further time to facilitate a possible consensus.

The Guidelines for the Control of Trichinella were adopted which recognised progress in eradicating the parasite in certain parts of the world.  The CAC adopted the risk-based guidelines to ensure that all pig meat is safe, while freeing up food control resources to be used where they are most needed. Pig meat from negligible risk areas can be traded without extensive testing, whereas carcasses from areas where Trichinella may infect pigs will continue to be tested rigorously.

For the full report, readers are directed to the Codex Alimentarius website: http://www.codexalimentarius.org/meetings-reports/en/ (the report will subsequently be available in French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese and Russian).

Dr Moy worked at the World Health Organization from 1987 until his retirement in 2008, where he served first as the Regional Adviser for Food Safety for the WHO Western Pacific Regional Office and then as the GEMS/Food Manager in the Department of Food Safety and Zoonoses at WHO Headquarters in Geneva. He currently serves as an adviser to the World Food Programme, the WHO International Virtual Advisory Group on Mass Gatherings, the China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment and the German Total Diet Study and consults on a range of food safety topics.  He is the co-editor of the Food Safety Encyclopedia (Elsevier, 2014) and Total Diet Studies (Springer, 2013). He is a Fellow of the IUFoST International Academy of Food Science and Technology and Co-chair of the IUFoST Food Safety Committee.