Codex Alimentarius

Food safety
Terms
Foodborne illness Good manufacturing practice (GMP) Hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP) Hazard analysis and risk-based preventive controls (HARPC) Critical control point
Critical factors
FAT TOM pH Water activity (aw)
Bacterial pathogens
Clostridium botulinum Escherichia coli Listeria Salmonella Vibrio cholerae Cronobacter spp
Viral pathogens
Enterovirus Hepatitis A Norovirus Rotavirus
Parasitic pathogens
Cryptosporidium Entamoeba histolytica Giardia Trichinella
v t e

The Codex Alimentarius (

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

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.

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

• 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)
• allergens
  )
• Food
  HACCP
  ” system)
• Methods of analysis and sampling

Specific standards

• 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
  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

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.

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

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

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

• FDA Food Safety Modernization Act
• Food Chemicals Codex
• Food additive (E numbers)

References