- The Codex Alimentarius (Codex al.) is a collection of standards, guidelines, codes of good practices and recommendations adopted by the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC). The CAC is the central part of the joint FAO/WHO program setting international food standards recognized in country trade disputes. The Codex Committee on Food Additives (CCFA) is tasked with setting maximum levels, specifications, functional classes and unique identification number for individual food additives, and is also assigning a priority list of food additives subject to safety evaluation and establishment of specifications (all being part of risk assessment) by JECFA, the Joint FAO/WHO expert meeting on food additives.
- Among other topics, the CCFA 50th session is expected to:
- make significant progress in reducing the backlog on food additives other than sweeteners and colors for a large number of food categories;
- consider ways to reduce the time between the review by JECFA and subsequent consideration of draft maximum levels by CCFA;
- take other decisions to amend the list of Codex approved JECFA specifications and amend the international numbering system; and,
- discuss future strategies and how CCFA may address the pending draft provisions for sweeteners and colors in all food categories, while avoiding the same traps than in the past about reference to national and or regional competent authorities placed in a note used on some, but not all, pending provisions (i.e. the so-called Note 161 issue).
- This meeting is sure to be of great interest to any food manufacturer marketing internationally.
- Keller and Heckman has published articles regarding this meeting as well as on the Codex Committee on Contaminants and Toxins meeting in the World Food Regulation Review, Vol. 27, Number 9, February 2018 issue (https://www.khlaw.com/Files/35431_wfrr_feb_2018_production.pdf).
For additional questions regarding Codex alimentarius and the regulation of food additives, Keller and Heckman clients may contact Katia Merten-Lentz, mertenlentz@khlaw.com, Christophe Lepretre, lepretre@khlwaw.com co-authors of the articles, in Keller and Heckman’s Brussels office, or Mel Drozen, drozen@khlaw.com, in the U.S. office.