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 [...]

May 23rd 2017 Paris. World Organisation for Animal Health  Speech: Tom Heilandt  The actual speech as it was delivered may deviate from the speech texts made available on this website. Chers déléguées, délégués - Mesdames et Messieurs Bonjour !  Je voudrais premièrement remercier l'OIE et sa directrice générale – Dr Monique Éloit pour cette invitation et la possibilité de m'adresser à vous ici aujourd'hui. Le thème de la discussion qui suivra ces interventions individuelles est très pertinent. Toute normalisation est inutile si [...]

The regional meetings provide an incredibly important opportunity for dynamic discussion on major and emerging food safety and quality issues facing the region. There are six Codex regions each represented by a joint FAO/WHO Regional Coordinating Committee (RCC).They meet every two years. Each committee is responsible for defining the problems and needs of the region concerning food standards and food control. By working collectively at the regional level countries are able to highlight regulatory issues and problems arising from food control [...]

On Monday 8th May the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling holds its 38th session in Budapest Hungary. Dr Marót Hibbey will chair the meeting for the first time and ahead of the meeting he took part in a Question and Answer session. Dr Marót Hibbey Q1 This meeting will be your first as Chair, can you tell us a little about your professional and personal background? I graduated as a vet in the Szent István University of Veterinary Sciences in Budapest, and [...]

Safe food to consumers should not be compromised regardless of the economic standing of the country. Greg Read is First Assistant Secretary in the Exports Division of the Australian Department of Agriculture and Water Resources and also chair of the Codex Committee on Food Import and Export Inspection and Certification Systems (CCFICS).  Q: How does CCFICS work to ensure fair trading practices and facilitate international trade in foodstuffs, protecting at the same time the health of consumers? Read: CCFICs has developed a large [...]