By Lusibilo Witson MWAMAKAMBA WHO The African Union Commission (AUC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) held a successful webinar on 23rd February 2023 in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Codex Coordinating Committee for Africa (CCAFRICA). The webinar was held on the heels of the recently concluded African Union Year of Nutrition, 2022 and highlighted the inextricable links between food safety and nutrition to achieve optimal health [...]

The Salvadoran Agency for Technical Regulation (OSARTEC), Codex El Salvador Contact Point, held a workshop on 20 February 2023 to plan the 2023 National Codex Programme.   Read the news on the OSREATEC web site in English and in Spanish Photo credit ©OSRATEC

This International Women’s Day, 8 March 2023, the UN is calling on governments, activists and the private sector alike to power on in their efforts to make the digital world safer, more inclusive and more equitable. The Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses (CCNFSDU), taking place in Duesseldorf, Germany from 7 to 10 March has much to celebrate with women the focus of a hugely successful start to the session. The first day of discussion saw the [...]

The World Food Safety Day 2023 campaign has started today, with the theme “Food standards save lives”. The theme coincides with the 60th anniversary of Codex Alimentarius this year and encourages food safety advocates around the world to focus on the importance of applying standards in every aspect of food production - from the source to the table. The launch saw the publication of this year’s guide in all six UN languages, which provides information on the theme and Codex Alimentarius, [...]

On 5 April 2023, the FAO/WHO Scientific Advice Programme will release a new publication entitled “Food safety aspects of cell-based food” in a webinar that is open to Codex Members and Observers. Animal-based meat production has evolved over thousands of years to meet the demand for safe and affordable sources of protein. Cell-based food production, which is the field of growing animal agricultural products directly from cell cultures, is being explored as a sustainable alternative or complement to conventional livestock [...]

The Codex Guidelines for ready-to-use therapeutic foods, or RUTF, have been published in the revised format which is part of the drive in the Codex Secretariat to enhance the availability of all Codex standards, guidelines and codes of practice. By the implementation of a digital object identifier (doi) –which remains unique over the lifetime of a document, even when its location and other metadata may change – the Secretariat is aligning its texts to industry standards and taking advantage of [...]

Abdoulie Jallow, Senior Scientific Officer Food Safety and Quality Authority, Gambia The National Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Committee of the Gambia was launched on 21st of February 2023, at a ceremony held at the premises of the Food Safety and Quality Authority of the Gambia. SPS Measures are vital instruments used by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and other relevant international multilateral agencies to ensure food safety, protection of plants and animals from pests and diseases and the facilitation of international agricultural [...]

The Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods (CCRVDF) took place in Portland, Oregon, United States of America from 13 to 17 February 2023. Making her debut as Chairperson, Brandi Robinson, from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Veterinary Medicine, congratulated delegates at the end of the meeting on “an impressive amount of work in just three days of plenary”. The Committee advanced maximum residue limits (MRLs) for ivermectin in sheep, pigs, and goats and MRLs for [...]

Food Safety and risk management training with a focus on residues and contaminants by BVL Germany In October 2023 Germany’s Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) will once again host the International Training for Safer Food. ITS Food is a training on food safety risk management, aimed at staff working in public authorities of non-EU countries handling issues related to food safety. ITS Food 2023 will focus on “Residues and Contaminants”. Practitioners from competent authorities, official laboratories and research institutions [...]

In opening remarks at the Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Foods (CCRVDF) taking place in Portland, Oregon, United States of America from 13 to 17 February 2023, Chairperson Brandi Robinson said “CCRVDF serves a very important role by providing a transparent forum where we can develop science-based standards which will meet Members’ needs, protect consumers, and ensure fair trade practices in the food trade.” The value veterinary drugs play to the health and wellbeing of animals and a [...]