SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

The summary and conclusions of the 31st Session of the Codex Committee on Food Additives and Contaminants are as follows:

MATTERS FOR ADOPTION BY THE CODEX ALIMENTARIUS COMMISSION: The Committee: ® agreed to advance to Step 8 Table 1 (section including 23 additives) of the Draft General Standard for Food Additives (paras. 46 and 56, Appendix II); ® agreed to advance to Step 8 the revised Table 3 (and Annex to Table 3) of the Draft General Standard for Food Additives (paras. 52 and 56, Appendix III); ® forwarded draft specifications for the identity and purity of food additives to the Commission for adoption as Codex Advisory Specifications (paras. 65 and 68, Appendix VII); ® advanced the INS numbers for argon, helium and oxygen for adoption at Step 5 of the Accelerated Procedure (para. 74, Appendix VIII); ® agreed to align the Health Related Limits for Certain Substances in the Codex Standard for Natural Mineral Waters with the WHO Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality (para. 91, Appendix VI); ® agreed to advance to Step 5 the Proposed Draft Annex A to the General Standard for Food Additives (Guidelines for the Estimation of Appropriate Levels of Use of Food Additives) (para. 58, Appendix IV); ® agreed to advance to Step 5 the Proposed Draft Maximum Levels for Tin in canned foods (para. 131, Appendix IX) and the Proposed Draft Maximum Level for Patulin in apple juice and apple juice ingredients in other beverages (para. 117, Appendix IX); ® agreed to circulate circulate INS Number 586 for 4-Hexylresorcinol and an amendment to the functions of Pectins at Step 3 of the Accelerated Procedure (para. 55, Appendix VIII); ® agreed to circulate the Proposed Draft Amendment to the Preamble of the General Standard for Food Additives at Step 3 of the Accelerated Procedure (para. 55, Appendix V); ® agreed to propose as new work: the revision of the General Standard for Irradiated Foods (para. 7) and the elaboration of two Codes of Practice for the Prevention of Contamination by 1) Ochratoxin A and 2) Zearalenone (paras. 106 and 112). OTHER MATTERS OF INTEREST TO THE COMMISSION: ® agreed: to retain at Step 7 a number of additives which required reevaluation by JECFA (paras. 47 and 56); to return to Step 6 all other additives under consideration for inclusion in Table 1 of the Draft General Standard for Food Additives (paras. 48 and 56); to circulate at Step 3 several additives with an ADI "not specified" allocated by JECFA for inclusion in Table 3 (paras. 12 and 56, Appendix XI); and to consider further the use of colours in foods and processing aids (paras. 62 and 145); ® agreed to return to Step 6 for redrafting the draft maximum levels for lead (para. 126); ® agreed to return to Step 6 the Draft Guideline Level for Cadmium in Cereals Pulses and Legumes and to circulate at Step 3 the Proposed Draft Maximum Levels for Cadmium (para. 136, Appendix X) and the Proposed Draft Maximum Levels for Ochratoxin A (para. 109, Appendix IX); ® agreed to return to Step 3 for redrafting the Proposed Draft Code of Practice for Source Directed Measures (para. 120); ® decided that the document concerning Methodology and Principles for Exposure Assessment in the General Standard for Contaminants and Toxins in Food should be redrafted for consideration at the next session (paras. 61-63); ® agreed that the Proposed Draft Provisions to Maintain the Stability of Iodised Salt (Amendment to the Standard for Food Grade Salt) would be returned to Step 3 for redrafting (para. 150).