Revisions to the Codex Standard for Follow-up Formula (CXS 156-1987) were adopted 28 November by the Codex Alimentarius Commission. The text has been renamed to the Standard for Follow-up Formula for Older Infants and Product for Young Children in order to highlight the point of differentiation at 12 months of age due to different nutritional requirements of older infants and young children. The adoption of this text concludes over 10 years of deliberations within the Codex Committee on Nutrition and [...]

The Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) has voted to adopt maximum residue limits (MRLs) for zilpaterol hydrochloride. The MRLs have been the subject of debate within the Commission for some years and Chairperson Steve Wearne had made it clear that he and the Vice-Chairpersons had perceived among the Members “a recognition that time is now growing short, and a sense of impatience that this issue should be resolved at CAC46.” This impatience was reflected in discussions during the plenary session. The decision [...]

The 46th Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) opened 27 November with a celebration of the 60th anniversary of the first CAC meeting. As part of the festivities, all countries that host or have ever hosted a Codex committee were honoured. Among them was Spain, as host of the little-known Joint Codex/International Olive Oil Council (IOOC – formerly IOC) Meeting on the Standardization of Table Olives (CXTO), which worked over two sessions in 1971 and 1973. The CXTO is mentioned briefly in this [...]

Poland has been actively involved in the work of the FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) since its very beginning. In 1963 and 1964, the Vice-Chairperson of the first two CAC sessions was Zenon Zaczkiewicz, the then-Deputy Director of the Polish Committee for Standardization. Professor Stanislaw Krauze, co-founder of the European Council of the Codex Alimentarius, also participated in the meetings of the first CAC sessions in the period 1962–1965. It should not be omitted that from 2009 to 2013, i.e. [...]

The 2023 edition of the CODEX magazine has been published ahead of the 60th anniversary Codex Alimentarius Commission meeting, CAC46, which will take place 27 November–2 December at FAO headquarters in Rome. In addition to the regular CODEX magazine features, this “bumper” edition of the magazine takes a look at key milestones throughout Codex’s history, from its first Commission meeting in 1963 through to this anniversary year, and explores different opinions on what the future may and must hold for a [...]

The 46th meeting of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) has opened with a celebration of the Commission’s 60 years of standards setting, in which the past, future and relevance of Codex were discussed by a range of experts, and long-standing contributions to Codex were recognized. The opening session, facilitated by Corinna Hawkes, Director of the FAO Food Systems and Food Safety Division and Codex Secretary ad interim, heard from the FAO and WHO Directors-General Qu Dongyu and Tedros Ghebreyesus on the [...]

The 46th session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission was opened at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on 27 November by the Directors-General of FAO and the World Health Organization (WHO) with celebrations for the 60th anniversary of the first Commission meeting in 1963. Dr Qu Dongyu, FAO’s Director-General welcomed the more-than 700 delegates from Codex Member Countries and Observer Organizations who have travelled from almost 160 countries to attend the Commission meeting in [...]

As part of its 70th anniversary celebrations, the International Regional Agricultural and Livestock Health Organization (OIRSA) in Latin America took note of the 60th anniversary of the Codex Alimentarius Commission. A birthday message sent by Regional Director of Food Safety at OIRSA, Raúl Peralta, and the organization’s Executive Director, Raúl Antonio Rodas, said: “Codex’s 60th anniversary is a wonderful opportunity to raise awareness about the importance of food safety and quality. OIRSA sends greetings to the Codex Alimentarius. Happy 60th anniversary!” Many [...]

The Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) meets this week, in Rome, for the 46th time  – 60 years after its very first meeting in 1963. Codex Members and Observers will be celebrating this anniversary, revisiting past milestones along the journey to this year’s meeting, considering at the same time what the next 60 years might hold for Codex.   CAC also has much work to discuss during this week. Proposed texts under adoption include the guidelines for the control of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC), the [...]

By KEMBOU Etienne, Nutrition & Food Safety Focal Point in the Multi-Country Support Team (MCAT) Burkina Faso; Mr Dominique Ouedraogo, Codex Contact Point, Burkina Faso From 21–23 November 2023, 33 national experts in Burkina Faso underwent capacity building and training on the generation of quality data usable by the Codex Alimentarius. Specifically, the experts were trained on five themes: procedures for developing Codex standards; basic principles and procedures for food safety risk assessment; the role of scientific expert bodies (FAO/WHO JECFA, [...]