In opening remarks to the 82nd session of the Executive Committee of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, taking place virtually from 20-24 June 2022, Maria-Helena Semedo, Deputy Director-General FAO recalled the vital role science-based analytical tools and normative work play in providing support to countries, especially in response to the worsening global food security situation due to the pandemic, disasters, conflict and climate change. Maria-Helena Semedo, Deputy Director-General FAO “The work you oversee here in the Executive Committee is a key part of [...]

Thanking participants for their commitment to safer food and better health, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus opened the 7 June webinar by sharing the news that countries approved the updated WHO Global Strategy for Food Safety. In late May 2022, the World Health Assembly committed “for the first time to concrete targets for reducing foodborne diarrhoea, strengthening surveillance, and improving coordination,” he announced. Also relaying World Food Safety Day greetings via video message at the opening of the online event [...]

“Our mission in Codex is to be where the world comes together to create food safety and quality standards that protect everyone everywhere.  Food safety is at the core of our work,” said Codex Chairperson Steve Wearne as celebrations got underway across the globe for World Food Safety Day 2022. One in ten people worldwide fall ill from contaminated food each year and the magnitude of the global public health burden of foodborne disease is comparable to that of malaria, or [...]

As part of this year’s World Food Safety Day celebrations, the World Health Organization (WHO), together with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), hosted a social media live Question-and-Answer (Q&A) event for the public on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. WHO Scientist, Simone Moraes Raszl, and Jeffrey LeJeune, FAO Food Safety Officer, discussed key facts about food safety and debunked some popular myths on Monday, 6 June 2022. The event was moderated by WHO Communications officer Yanawit [...]

As part of this year’s World Food Safety Day celebrations, the World Health Organization (WHO), together with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), will host a social media live Q&A event for the public on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The event speakers, WHO Scientist, Simone Moraes Raszl, and Jeffrey LeJeune, FAO Food Safety Officer, will answer questions around this year’s theme of “safer food, better health”. Tune in to FAO and WHO social media channels on Monday 6 [...]

Food safety is everyone’s business, and to underline this fact, new information leaflets have been released in advance of this year’s World Food Safety Day. The leaflets examine five settings where food is sold or consumed: workplaces, traditional food markets, street food vending, schools and daycare centres and the home. Each leaflet explains why food safety is important in that environment and then explains easy ways for authorities, producers and consumers to keep food safe. They all end with an idea [...]

World Food safety Day will be celebrated on 7 June 2022. Codex Secretary Tom Heilandt spoke to the FAO liason office in Brussels about the theme for this year's celebration - safer food better health - and about a range of issues on his agenda in Codex.   Read the full article here.

More than 100 participants took part on 25 May 2022 in the first of a series of online events for work underway in the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling (CCMAS). Tom Heilandt Codex Secretary said “it is a wonderful initiative to keep these meetings informal so we can really learn together and get up to date on what’s happening”. The Codex Standard 234, Recommended Methods of Analysis and Sampling, is undergoing review to ensure the methods used in [...]

Over 400 delegates gathered online for the opening of the Codex Committee on Contaminants in Food (CCCF) which is taking place from 9 to 24 May 2022, hosted by The Netherlands from Utrecht. The committee regulates substances that have not been intentionally added to food by setting maximum levels to avoid levels of contamination that would make the food unsafe or affect its quality.  Speaking from the virtual studio, the Chairperson of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, Steve Wearne, United Kingdom, said [...]

By Brandi Robinson, Food and Drug Administration, United States of AmericaChairperson Codex Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Food (CCRVDF) Veterinarians have contributed to the development of Codex codes of practice, guidelines, and standards on many topics ranging from animal feeding to contaminants in feed, to residues of veterinary drugs in food, to antimicrobial resistance. With their expertise, veterinarians are integral to the ongoing work of the CCRVD which is charged with developing standards for veterinary drug residues found in food [...]