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Welcome to the
'Food Safety and Quality Update' eNewsletter from FAO's Food Quality and
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FAO Subregional Training Workshop on Improving the Quality and Safety of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables: A Practical Approach, Hyderabad, India, 4-8 February 2008
The report of the above workshop is now available at: http://www.fao.org/ag/agn/agns/files/WS_Report_FFV_Hyderabad_Feb_2008.pdf.
Dioxins in the food chain: prevention and control of contamination
Dioxins are formed as unwanted by-products from a number of human activities including certain industrial processes In terms of dioxins release into the environment, waste incinerators are often the worst culprits due to incomplete burning. Food of animal origin is the predominant route of human exposure due to the deposition of dioxins in the fat component of animal products. Dioxins have been showed to cause a wide variety of toxic effects and to be carcinogenic in humans and animals. Measures to reduce dioxins entering in the food chain should aim at preventing or reducing contamination of environment (air, soil and water) and at minimizing their formation during food and feed processing. To respond to the numerous recent queries concerning dioxins contamination of food, FAO has recently developed a fact sheet summarising undated information. The fact sheet is available here.
E-learning course: Enhancing participation in Codex activities
FAO and WHO have developed an e-learning course, entitled Enhancing participation in Codex activities to provide information on Codex procedures and to support effective participation of all delegates attending Codex meetings. The target audience of the distance learning curriculum includes: Designated Codex Contact Points; Food safety policy-makers; NGOs representing food industry, scientific and consumer interests and Academic Institutions. All beneficiaries of the FAO/WHO Trust Fund for Participation in Codex are strongly advised to complete this course. The course explains the organization and operation of the Codex Alimentarius Commission and its subsidiary bodies and the process of developing international food standards. The FAO/WHO scientific advice which forms the basis for many Codex standards is outlined. Guidance is also provided on strengthening national Codex programmes. For details concerning the release of other language versions of this course please consult the website: http://www.fao.org/ag/agn/agns/capacity_elearning_codex_en.asp
FAO/WHO Regional training seminar on Codex Alimentarius
Yaoundé, Cameroon, 1-4 April 2008
FAO/WHO, in collaboration with the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Technological Development, organized a regional training seminar from 1 to 4 April 2008 in Yaoundé, Cameroon on Codex Alimentarius to strengthen national Codex activities and to enhance participation in standard setting work of the Codex Alimentarius Commission. In total, 42 delegates attended the seminar representing Cameroon, Ghana, Liberia, Malawi, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Zambia. Financial support was provided b y the Governments of Ireland and Canada. The report of the workshop will shortly be available from: www.fao.org/agns/capacity_events_en.asp.
 68th JECFA Session
The latest JECFA reports are now available at the following links: Report - WHO Technical Report Series 947 2008. Evaluation of certain food additives and contaminants. Sixty-eighth report of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2007/9789241209472_eng.pdf Toxicological monographs - WHO Food Additives Series 59, 2008. Safety evaluation of certain food additives and contaminants. Prepared by the Sixty-eighth meeting of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA). http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2008/9789241660594_eng.pdf Specifications monographs - FAO JECFA Monographs 4, 2007. Compendium of Food Additive Specifications. Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives, 68th meeting. http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/a1447e/a1447e00.htm
69th JECFA Session (Food additives)
Rome, Italy, 17–26 June 2008
The complete list of substances scheduled for evaluation by this meeting is available from: http://www.fao.org/ag/agn/agns/files/JECFA69_Call_Final_28_9_2007.pdf and http://www.fao.org/ag/agn/agns/files/Supplemental%20call%20JECFA%2069.pdf
70th JECFA Session (Residues of Veterinary Drugs)
Geneva, Switzerland, 21–29 October 2008
The complete list of substances scheduled for evaluation by this meeting is available from: http://www.fao.org/ag/agn/agns/files/JECFA%2070%20Call%20for%20data.pdf
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Forthcoming
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Announcements |
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Codex Committee on Fresh Fruits and Vegetables 14th Session,
Mexico City, Mexico, 12-15 May 2008
The provisional agenda and working documents for this and all other upcoming Codex meetings are available from the following meetings page: http://www.codexalimentarius.net/web/current.jsp
FAO Regional Workshop on Modern Principles of Food Inspection and Certification
Jakarta, Indonesia, 27-30 May 2008
The FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (RAP), in collaboration with the National Agency for Drug and Food Control (NADFC), Indonesia is organizing a regional workshop on modern principles of food inspection and certification to be held in Jakarta, Indonesia from 1 to 3 April 2008. The workshop is being conducted under the project GCP/RAS/222/JPN of which the objective is to strengthen systems of food inspection in ASEAN countries covering: domestically produced food and food import and export control. The objectives of the workshop are to enhance Senior level food safety regulators’ understanding of international requirements for food safety and principles of modern food inspection and certification as well as to address the challenges for food safety in general and food inspection systems in particular in ASEAN countries. This will include identification of capacity building needs and priorities for follow-up assistance in food inspection and identification of factors associated with successful inspection system in ASEAN countries.
FAO/WHO Expert Meeting on Chlorine Containing Disinfectants
Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA, 27-30 May 2008
The joint FAO/WHO Expert Meeting on Chlorine Containing Disinfectants will be held in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA from 27- 30 May 2008. The final scope of the meeting is available at: http://www.fao.org/ag/agn/agns/files/Scope_chlorine_meeting_2008.pdf
FAO/ENCB Technical Meeting on Risk Assessment of Microbiological Hazards in Food
Mexico City, Mexico, 9-13 June 2008
The Representation of FAO in Mexico, in collaboration with AGN and the National School of Biological Sciences, Mexico, is organizing a technical meeting for the members of the national food safety network to discuss international approaches for the risk assessment of microbiological hazards in food. The meeting is part of the FAO/JEMRA technical advice provided to national institutions to better assess these risks and enhance the use of the results in national activities as well as in Codex. For further information contact: JEMRA@fao.org
International Seminar on Setting Food Safety Standards
The Hague, The Netherlands, 9-12 June 2008
The Dutch Government will organize an international seminar on Setting Food Safety Standards in The Hague from 9 to 12 June 2008 in cooperation with FAO and WHO. The purpose of the seminar is to discuss the policy for setting food safety standards. Specifically, the seminar will explore whether other criteria should be taken into account during risk management, such as the costs involved of enforcing the standards (for inspection bodies) and the consequences of increasingly stringent food safety standards for international trade, particularly for the trade with developing countries. Discussion will take place using case studies and methods that will be dealt with in four parallel working groups: veterinary medicines, contaminants, microbiological agents, and pesticides. More information on the seminar can be obtained from: http://www.minlnv.nl/foodsafetyjune2008
Executive Committee of the Codex Alimentarius Commission
61st Session, Geneva, Switzerland, 24-27 June 2008
The provisional agenda and working documents for this and all other upcoming Codex meetings are available from the following meetings page: http://www.codexalimentarius.net/web/current.jsp
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 Science for Safe Food
FAO and WHO have completed the “Consultative Process” which was requested by the 24th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission in 2001. The objective of the consultative process was to consider ways and means to improve the independence, transparency, timeliness, efficiency, integrity, and sustainability of the provision of scientific advice to Codex and FAO/WHO member countries. An important achievement has been the preparation of the "Framework document"- which documents the principles, practices and procedures applied by FAO and WHO for the provision of scientific advice. In addition, the Global Initiative for Food-related Scientific Advice (GIFSA) has been established to identify extra-budgetary resources to ensure the continued provision of scientific advice to Codex and its subsidiary bodies. More details on GIFSA may be obtained by writing to gifsa@fao.org. Full results of the consultative process are available at: http:/www.fao.org/ag/agn/agns/advice_en.asp and the framework document is now available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French and Spanish.
Request for the provision of information to the International Portal on Food Safety, Animal and Plant Health: Food safety assessments of recombinant-DNA plants
The 7th Session of the Codex ad hoc Intergovernmental Task Force on Foods Derived from Biotechnology (Chiba, Japan, 24-28 September, 2007) considered the Proposed Draft Annex: Food Safety Assessment in Situations of Low-level Presence of Recombinant-DNA Plant Material in Food (Appendix IV, ALINORM 08/31/34). Section 3 of the Proposed Draft Annex provides for data and information sharing on recombinant-DNA plants authorized in accordance with the Codex Plant Guideline. In this connection, FAO proposed a database and data entry mechanism designed to facilitate the publication of food safety assessment information, as detailed in the Proposed Draft Annex. Through the International Portal on Food Safety, Animal and Plant Health (IPFSAPH - www.ipfsaph.org), FAO will maintain a publicly accessible central database containing relevant information to food safety assessments of recombinant-DNA plants. In view of the possible adoption of the above annex by the 31st Session of the Commission, the FAO/IPFSAPH Secretariat has initiated finalization of this database and would like to inform Members of FAO, as well as other interested parties, of the modalities of providing relevant information, as noted in paragraph 80 of the Report of the Task Force (ALINORM 08/31/34), and invite their cooperation. The existing Codex Plant Guideline is available at:
www.codexalimentarius.net/download/standards/10021/CXG_045E.pdf
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