On November 28, 2017, a workshop took place in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic to raise awareness about the importance of the work of Codex for members of Parliament and high level government employees. This workshop was organized and conducted by the Center for Standardization and Metrology under the Ministry of Economy of the Kyrgyz Republic in cooperation with the WHO country office The meeting was also supported by the FAO/WHO Codex Trust Fund as part of the Kyrgyz project on improvement of [...]

Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen, Check with delivered It is an honor for me to be here on Jeju Island and assist in the 5th Session of the Codex Task Force on Antimicrobial Resistance.  First, let me thank our hosts from the Republic of Korea for their kind offer to continue their contribution to the task force and especially our chairperson Prof Park. Codex could not work without its host governments and the Codex chairs – they are the backbone of [...]

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) antimicrobial resistance is an increasingly serious threat to global public health that requires action across all government sectors and society. What is AMR? Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is the ability of a microorganism (like bacteria, viruses, and some parasites) to stop an antimicrobial (such as antibiotics, antivirals and antimalarials) from working against it. As a result, standard treatments become ineffective, infections persist and may spread to others. (WHO) Codex Task Force The Codex Alimentarius Commission agreed in July [...]

Codex Secretary and Codex Former Chairperson Join National and International Food Standards Experts to Highlight the Importance of Food Safety Risk Communication 2nd Shenzhen Food Safety Risk Communication Forum 2017 The Codex Secretary Mr Tom Heilandt and the Former Codex Chairperson Mrs Awilo Ochieng Pernet attended the 2nd Shenzhen Food Safety Risk Communication Forum, which took place in Shenzhen (China) on 24th and 25th October 2017. This high-level Forum brought together renowned national and international experts as well as 460 participants including [...]

How can we change but remain the same? Dr Emilio Esteban is Executive Associate for Laboratory Services in the United States Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service, and chairs the Codex Committe on Food Hygiene currently meeting in Chicago USA. As I sit today, living the 49th session of the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene, I find myself amazed that after 50 plus years of discussion, the objective remains the same, yet, things have changed. On May 1964, nine members [...]

Experts meet in Kampala to discuss standards for fresh fruits and vegetables Kampala, 2nd October 2017 – Experts in food and agriculture sector are meeting in Kampala for a week to discuss standards for fresh fruits and vegetables including garlic, potatoes and eggplants, kiwi fruits and fresh dates. Codex Committee on Fresh Fruits and Vegetables This session of the Codex Committee on Fresh Fruits and Vegetables (CCFFV) is co-hosted by the Government of Uganda together with the Government of Mexico. Speaking at the opening [...]

More than 50 standards and 30 new work proposals to be examined at CAC40 More than 600 delegates from over 120 countries will gather in Geneva this week to take important decisions on international food safety standards. Over 50 standards will be examined together with more than 30 proposals for development of new work or revisions of current Codex texts. Highlights Highlights of the meeting include decisions on: Guidelines on nutrition labelling (nutrition information on food packaging for consumers) Code of hygienic practice for fresh fruits [...]

If they are to be used, standards will have to keep up with what is happening on the market. Dr Howard Porter, CEO of BEAMA and board member of ORGALIME.   BSI Conference Standards increasingly matter wherever you go and whatever you do. On Thursday 22nd of June, the BSI Group hosted a one day conference in Edinburgh to discuss some of the major questions coming up in the field of standardization. The event gathered standards professionals from 50 countries representing standards bodies, consumer organizations, [...]

We need a food supply system that produces safe food, produces nutritious food, and also produces authentic food, which is free of fraudulent activity. Dr Chris Elliot Food fraud is the intentional adulteration of food for financial gain. This can include deliberate substitution, dilution, counterfeiting, or misrepresentation of food, ingredients or packaging; or even false or misleading statements made about a product. All these examples of fraud can have a negative impact on the quality and safety aspects of foods. They can [...]

Anyone can now follow Codex Alimentarius meetings simply by clicking on the RSS icon. RSS stands for Rich Site Summary and is a technology used to monitor rapidly changing information on the web in an organized and user friendly way.  It is identified by the little orange and white RSS icon that is found all over the world on Web sites, in particular on news sites and blogs.  By posting a "feed" on their page, web site owners allow RSS readers to search [...]