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REVISION OF CODEX STANDARDS FOR: (A) COCOA BUTTERS, (B) COCOA (CACAO) NIB, COCOA (CACAO) MASS, COCOA PRESS CAKE AND COCOA DUST (COCOA FINES), FOR USE IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COCOA AND CHOCOLATE PRODUCTS, (C) COCOA POWDERS (COCOAS) AND DRY COCOA-SUGAR MIXTURES AT STEP 4 (Agenda Item 3)[3]


(A) PROPOSED DRAFT REVISED STANDARD FOR COCOA BUTTERS
(B) PROPOSED DRAFT REVISED STANDARD FOR COCOA (CACAO) MASS (COCOA/CHOCOLATE LIQUOR) AND COCOA CAKE FOR THE USE IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COCOA AND CHOCOLATE PRODUCTS
(C) PROPOSED DRAFT REVISED STANDARD FOR COCOA POWDERS (COCOAS) AND DRY COCOA-SUGAR MIXTURES

17. The Committee recalled that both the Joint FAO/WHO Conference on Food Standards, Chemicals in Food and Food Trade (March 1991) and the Nineteenth Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (July 1991) recommended that existing Codex Standards should be reviewed in order to simplify them and to make their acceptance by national governments easier. It also recalled that due to time constraints, the Committee could not consider the above mentioned Standards at its last Session.

18. The Committee first had a discussion on whether it would be appropriate to propose the revocation of one or more of the Standards referenced above or to continue their revision. There was a general agreement that these standards were overly prescriptive and should be simplified as much as possible. There also was a general agreement that the standard for cocoa powders and dry cocoa-sugar mixtures would be necessary as the Standard covers products destined to consumers.

19. Concerning other two standards that cover products for further processing, a number of delegations were of the opinion that there was no need to elaborate standards for these products, since (1) they were not sold directly to consumers; (2) they had only minimal public health significance; (3) quality matters should be agreed between trade partners and they were seldom regulated by national legislation and therefore it was felt that there was no role to play for national government.

20. A number of other delegations expressed the view that since cocoa butter, cocoa mass and cocoa cake were the base materials in manufacturing chocolate and cocoa products, it would be necessary to have the standards for these products to protect consumers. They also stated that it would be necessary to establish minimum quality criteria in order to ensure fair practices in trade.

21. Noting the concerns expressed by cocoa-producing countries, the Committee decided to continue the revision of all three standards emphasizing that it would simplify these standard as much as feasible while retaining essential factors.

(A) PROPOSED DRAFT REVISED STANDARD FOR COCOA BUTTERS[4]

Description

22. In order to simplify this section the Committee agreed on the following new wording for a definition of Cocoa Butters in Section 2.1 based on the text provided by the Delegation of Austria on behalf of the EC:

Cocoa butter is the fat obtained from cocoa beans with the following characteristics:

- Free fatty acid content:

not more than 1.75%

- Unsaponifiable matter:

not more 0.5%, [except in the case of press cocoa butter which shall be not more than 0.35%].


23. The Committee agreed to place the reference to the unsaponifiable matter in Press Cocoa Butter in square brackets for further comments and information on the practicability of the value with a view towards determining whether there should be two separate definitions for press cocoa butter and cocoa butter other than press cocoa butter, or only one covering all types of cocoa butter.

24. The Committee decided to delete Section 2.2 Categories of Cocoa Butter, namely, the definitions of Press Cocoa Butter, Expeller Cocoa Butter, Solvent Extracted Cocoa Butter and Refined Cocoa Butter as they were already covered by the new definition on Cocoa Butter.

Essential Composition and Quality Factors

25. The Committee agreed to delete Section 3.1 Identification and Quality Values and Section 3.1.2 Analytical Characteristics as the essential quality characteristics were already moved to Section 2.1 Definition of Cocoa Butter.

Food Additives

26. The Committee noted that hexane is classified as a processing aid rather than food additive. After some discussions on whether or not to change the heading from “food additives” to either “processing aids” or “food additives and processing aids”, the Committee decided to retain the original section heading, “food additives” in line with the standard format of Codex standards, and to amend the subheading from “extraction solvent” to “processing aid”. It further decided to reduce the maximum level of hexane in the final product from 5 mg/kg to 1 mg/kg

Contaminants

27. The Committee decided to delete the maximum levels for copper and iron as it was agreed that they were not of health concerns. It also decided to delete the maximum level for arsenic as the use of lead arsenate on cocoa plants had been banned for years. This decision is applicable to all standards covered under this Agenda Item.

Hygiene

28. The Committee noted that the Codex Alimentarius Commission would consider at its 23rd Session (June 1999) a new standard wording for food hygiene provisions as recommended by the 30th Session of the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene. This Committee would consider this new wording once it was adopted by the Commission. This decision is applicable to all standards covered under this Agenda Item.

Labelling

29. As a consequence to the Committee’s decision made on Description, the Committee agreed to delete original subsections on expeller cocoa butter, solvent extracted cocoa butter and refined cocoa butter (see para. 24). The Committee considered the wording of subsection for press cocoa butter and the need to include the labelling provision for “cocoa butter”. The Committee decided to include a new subsection on Cocoa Butter and to place in square bracket the subsection on press cocoa butter while deleting the text from that subsection. When a decision was made by the Committee on whether there should be only one maximum level of unsaponifiable matter to cover cocoa butter, or one each for cocoa butter and press cocoa butter (see para. 24), the Committee would elaborate texts for the Name of the Product as appropriate.

30. The Committee agreed to use the standard text included in the Codex Alimentarius Commission Procedural Manual for the labelling of non-retail containers[5], instead of the provision on bulk packs.

Methods of Analysis and Sampling

31. As the section on Essential Composition and Quality Factors and the maximum levels for arsenic, copper and iron were deleted (see paras 25 and 27), the Committee also agreed to delete the methods for these provisions, retaining only the methods of analysis for free fatty acids, unsaponifiable matter and lead.

(B) PROPOSED DRAFT REVISED STANDARD FOR COCOA (CACAO) MASS (COCOA/CHOCOLATE LIQUOR) AND COCOA CAKE FOR THE USE IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COCOA AND CHOCOLATE PRODUCTS[6]

32. A number of Delegations reiterated their proposal to revoke the standard since the products covered were not sold directly to consumers and they were already subject to agreements between trade partners. However, a number of other delegations stressed the need for this standard for products used for manufacturing cocoa and chocolate products to ensure fair practices in the trade of these products. As a compromise and also for the sake of simplification, the Committee decided to include in the standard only those products of relevance to human consumption.

Title and Scope

33. The Committee decided to remove Cocoa Nib and Cocoa Dust, to replace Cocoa Press Cake with Cocoa Cake, and to insert the term “Cocoa/Chocolate Liquor” after the term Cocoa Mass as its synonym to reflect the decision made on the Description (see paras. 34 to 36).

Descriptions

34. The Committee deleted the definition of Cocoa Nib as it was less relevant to human consumption and its products, Cocoa Mass and Cocoa Cake, were covered in this section. The Committee also agreed to delete the definition of Cocoa Dust or Cocoa Fines as this type of product was not destined for human consumption.

35. The Committee agreed to retain Cocoa Mass and Cocoa Press Cake as they were used for the production of chocolate. However, the Committee agreed to delete references to manufacturing methods to provide for flexibility. It further agreed to insert the term “Cocoa/Chocolate Liquor” as the terms cocoa liquor and chocolate liquor were used as synonyms to Cocoa Mass in English speaking countries. Since Cocoa Nib was referred in the definitions of Cocoa Mass and Cocoa Cake, the Committee decided to reinstate its definition into the definition of Cocoa Mass.

36. The Committee integrated the definitions of Cocoa Press Cake and Expeller Press Cake by inserting the term “or complete” after the term “by partial” and agreed to rename Cocoa Press Cake “Cocoa Cake”.

Essential Composition and Quality Factors

37. The Committee decided to delete the terms “Cocoa Nib” and “Press” from the subsection title as a result of the decision made on the Description.

Food Additives

38. In line with the decision made by the Committee on the food additives provision in the Proposed Draft Revised Standard for Cocoa Powders (Cocoas) and Dry Cocoa-Sugar Mixtures, the Committee amended the maximum levels for carbonates, hydroxides, citric acid, mono- and diglycerides of edible fatty acids and lecithin from the numerical values to “limited by GMP”, and deleted the maximum level for total emulsifiers.

39. The Committee agreed to (1) include calcium hydroxide in acidity regulators; (2) raise the maximum level for ammonium salts of phosphatidic acids to 10 g/kg; and (3) include glycerol in the list of food additives. Glycerol was placed in square brackets pending clarification of its function in the products covered by the standard.

Contaminants and Hygiene (see paras 27 and 28)

Labelling

40. As a consequence to the deletion of cocoa nib, expeller press cake, and cocoa dust or cocoa fines from the Description, the Committee also deleted the provisions of the denomination of these products and amended the subsection numbers accordingly. It agreed to delete sections on list of ingredient, name and address, country of origin and lot identification, as these provisions are already well covered by the Codex General Standard for the Labelling of Prepackaged Foods. It further agreed to replace the heading “presentation of information” with “Labelling of non-retail containers” using the standard wording contained in the Procedural Manual.

Methods of Analysis and Sampling

41. As a consequence to the deletion of the maximum level for copper, the Committee deleted the method of analysis for copper.

(C) PROPOSED DRAFT REVISED STANDARD FOR COCOA POWDERS (COCOAS) AND DRY COCOA-SUGAR MIXTURES[7]

42. The Committee considered a proposal to include into this standard couverture chocolate, and drinking chocolate and chocolate powder, which it had agreed at the last session to include in the Standards for Cocoa Mass and Cocoa Powders respectively. The Committee decided that couverture chocolate should be included in the Standard for Chocolate and Chocolate Products based on the fact that this standard covered products to be drunk and that couverture chocolate was sold also to consumers. It was also decided that drinking chocolate and chocolate powder be covered by this standard.

Scope

43. After some discussion on whether to expand the Scope to accommodate drinking chocolate and chocolate powder, the Committee decided to maintain the Scope as drafted as it was felt that the current Scope was broad enough to address these products.

Description

44. The Committee agreed to amend the wording of the definition of Cocoa Powder and Fat-reduced Cocoa Powder as follows by deleting the reference to the manufacturing method: Cocoa Powder and Fat-reduced Cocoa Powder are the products obtained from cocoa cake transformed into powder. The Committee decided to delete the definition of Cocoa Press Cake, which is included in the Standard for Cocoa Mass and Cocoa Cake, as well as those of Cocoa Sugar Mixtures and Sugars from the Description.

Essential Composition

45. The Committee considered whether the minimum level of cocoa butter in Cocoa Powder and Fat-Reduced Cocoa Powder be 20% or 10%, and how many categories were necessary to cover cocoa powder products in the market. Although it was stated that the specified level was the minimum value and those who wish to use higher levels of cocoa butter could freely do so, a number of countries preferred to maintain the value as contained in the current standard. As no consensus was reached on this issue, the Committee decided to place the current level, 20%, in square bracket for further comments and information. The Committee, however, agreed to maintain two classes of products, Cocoa Powder and Fat-reduced Cocoa Powder, and to delete the term “but not less than 8% m/m” from the cocoa butter level of fat-reduced cocoa powder recognizing that presently products of a wide range of fat contents were available.

46. The Committee also placed the maximum level of moisture, 7%, for Cocoa Powder and Fat-reduced Cocoa Powder in square brackets for comments and information as there were proposals to raise it to 9% and to reduce it to 5%.

47. After discussions on whether or not to delete the references to Cocoa-Sugar Mixtures, the Committee decided to retain them unchanged.

48. The Committee agreed to include a new subsection 3.1.3 Chocolate Powder and to place the subsection in square brackets for comments and future consideration as the proposed wording became available only at the Session. The Delegation of Belgium stressed that as the minimum levels of cocoa butter and moisture of subsection 3.1.1.1 applied to chocolate powder, this product should be covered by this subsection.

Food Additives

Acidity Regulators and Emulsifiers

49. The Committee noted that in the framework of the Codex General Standard for Food Additives, which was being developed in phases by the Codex Committee on Food Additives and Contaminants, (1) those food additives with the ADIs set as “not specified” or “not limited” could be used at the level of “limited by GMP”; and (2) the uses of those other additives for which no ADIs had been allocated would not be endorsed unless technological justification was provided in writing to that Committee. For the facilitation of elaborating the food additives provision, the Committee agreed to amend the maximum levels for carbonates, hydroxides, citric acid, mono- and diglycerides of edible fatty acids and lecithin from the numerical values to “limited by GMP”. Those remaining numerical values were modified in line with the expression of maximum levels in other standards being considered by this Committee.

50. The Committee agreed to increase the maximum level for ammonium salts of phosphatidic acids from 7 g/kg to 10 g/kg. Taking into consideration the new maximum levels of mono-and diglycerides of edible fatty acids and lecithin set as “limited by GMP”, the Committee agreed to delete the maximum level for total emulsifiers.

Flavouring Agents

51. The Committee agreed to the following new wording, similar to that used in the proposed draft standards for processed fruits and vegetables, and the maximum level of “limited by GMP”, noting a reservation of the Delegation of Germany against the use of artificial flavours:

“Natural and artificial flavours, except those which reproduce the flavour of chocolate or milk”

Anticaking Agents

52. The Committee agreed to include the following anticaking agents and to delete the term “for vending machines only”:

552

Calcium Silicate

553(i)

Magnesium silicate

553(ii)

Magnesium trisilicate

553(iii)

Talc

555

Potassium aluminum silicate

556

Calcium aluminum silicate

559

Aluminum silicate




53. The Delegation of the United States stated that amorphous silicon dioxide should be anhydrous silicon dioxide. The Delegation was invited to send this information directly to the Codex Committee on Food Additives and Contaminants as the term, “silicon dioxide, amorphous” was included in the International Numbering System while the other was not.

Sweeteners

54. The Committee agreed to include the following sweeteners for the use in low sugar/sugar free products and energy reduced products:

420

Sorbitol and sorbitol syrup

421

Mannitol

953

Isomalt (Isomaltitol)

965

Maltitol and maltitol syrup

966

Lactitol

967

Xylitol


Contaminants and Hygiene (see paras 27 and 28).

Labelling

55. The Committee agreed to include “drinking chocolate” and “fat-reduced drinking chocolate” in the subsections 7.1.3 and 7.1.7 respectively. The Committee further agreed to include a new subsection on the labelling of chocolate powder and place it in square bracket as its essential composition provision was also in square brackets.

56. Although there was a proposal to include a subsection on the warning to reference to the use of polyol sweeteners, no decision was made on this issue.

Methods of Analysis and Sampling

57. As a result of the deletion of the maximum levels for arsenic and copper, the methods for these substances were also deleted. The reference numbers of the IOCCC methods were also updated.

Status of the Proposed Draft Revised Standards for (a) Cocoa Butters; (b) Cocoa (Cacao) Mass (Cocoa/Chocolate Liquor) and Cocoa Cake, for Use in the Manufacture of Cocoa and Chocolate Products; (c) Cocoa Powders (Cocoas) and Dry Cocoa-Sugar Mixture

58. The Committee agreed to advance these Standards to Step 5 of the Codex Procedure for adoption by the Codex Alimentarius Commission at its 23rd Session (June 1999).


[3] CX/CPC 98/3, CX/CPC 98/3-Add.1 (comments by Australia, Côte d’Ivoire, Mexico, New Zealand, Switzerland, UK, USA); CX/CPC 98/3-Add.2 (comments by the Netherlands, Thailand); CRD 5 (comments from Spain); CRD 7 (comments from France); CRD 10 (comments from India).
[4]The agreed text is attached to this report as Appendix II.
[5] Codex Alimentarius Commission Procedural Manual, Tenth Edition, p. 76.
[6] The agreed text is attached to this report as Appendix III.
[7]The agreed text is attached to this report as Appendix IV.

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