136. The Commission had before it a working paper containing government comments on the definition of “food additive”, “contaminant” and “process” (ALINORM 70/38 and Add. 1).
137. The Commission decided that, as the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues had not been able to submit a definition for “pesticide residues”, it would not be practicable to examine the definitions for “food additive” and “contaminant” at this session. The Chairman emphasized that the purpose of the definitions was not to delineate the terms of reference of the Codex Committees on Food Additives and Pesticide Residues, but to define the terms used in the General Principles of the Codex Alimentarius. The delegations of Japan and the Netherlands considered that the definition of food additives was not satisfactory and would have to be re-examined. This view was supported by the delegates of Belgium, Spain, France, Austria and Ireland. The Commission's attention was drawn to the work of Prof. E.J. Bigwood in this field. The Codex Committees on Food Additives and Pesticide Residues were requested to re-examine the question of definitions and to make recommendations to the next session of the Commission.
138. The Commission had before it a working paper containing the General Principles for the Use of Food Additives (ALINORM 70/39). It was noted that only one country had sent a reply. The delegation of the U.S.A. considered that paragraph 1(i) of the General Principles should be deleted as it would be difficult for the responsible authorities to establish in each case whether the use of certain manufactur ing practices, which were economically and technologically feasible, could replace the use of a proposed food additive. The delegation of the Federal Republic of Germany considered that some amendment might be made to paragraph 1(i) but that the substance of the section should be retained as in their opinion, food additives should not be permitted unless it could be demonstrated that their use was absolutely essential. The Commission noted that the English, French and Spanish texts of paragraph 1(i) were not identical. A number of delegations and the representative of the International Organization of Consumers Unions supported the retention of paragraph 1(i) as it appeared in the French text.
139. The delegation of the Federal Republic of Germany proposed the addition of a new item concerning the justification of the addition to food of substances for special dietary purposes. The delegation of Ireland drew the Commission's attention to a deficiency in the wording of paragraph 1(e), since the level, i.e. quantity of a food additive used, was only one of the many aspects to be considered when evaluating the hazard to health of the consumer. Other delegations considered that the possibility of additive, synergistic as well as potentiating effects should also be taken into consideration in the wording of this paragraph. The delegations of Canada, Netherlands and U.S.A. were of the opinion that the General Principles for the Use of Food Additives as amended should be printed in the Procedural Manual for the guidance of Codex Commodity Committees.
140. The Commission agreed to the addition of the following sentence as a new paragraph 1(e): “to provide essential components for foods for special dietary uses”. It was agreed to amend paragraph 1(i) as follows: “when the desired effect can be obtained by other manufacturing practices which are economically and technologically satisfactory”.
141. The Commission adopted provisionally the amended General Principles for the Use of Food Additives as a guide for Codex Committees (see Appendix VI to this Report). It was agreed that governments should be requested to comment on this text and that these comments should be studied by the Codex Committee on Food Additives with the view to the submission of a final text to the Commission which might be printed in the Procedural Manual.
142. The Commission had before it a list of food colours contained in Appendix XVI of ALINORM 70/12. This was an addition to the open list of food colours (Appendix X of the Report of the Sixth Session of the Commission) which had been sent to governments for information. It was emphasized that it had not been intended to do more than send this list to governments for information and that, if the Codex Committee on Food Additives wished such lists to be sent to governments for comment (see paragraph 92 of ALINORM 70/12), they should request the Secretariat to circulate them at Step 3 of the Procedure.
143. The Chairman pointed out that if the Codex Committee on Food Additives were to produce an exclusive list on food colours, it would be necessary to pass it through all the Steps of the Procedure and to send it to governments for acceptance. Open lists could only be issued by the Commission for information and not as part of the Procedure.
144. Several delegations said that they considered that there would be little point in submitting the lists to governments for comments. Other delegations considered that the lists should not be given even the approval of the Commission on an information basis, without first being submitted to governments for comment. A number of delegations drew attention to the danger of the Codex Committee on Food Additives proceeding with open lists without considering the question of the harmonization of the provisions on permitted colours in the legislation of the various Member Countries. The delegations of Ghana and Trinidad and Tobago mentioned the equal importance of making available lists of prohibited colours to Member Countries.
145. The Commission agreed that the proposed list of colours should be printed as an Appendix to the Report for the information of Member Governments and Codex Commodity Committees. If any Member Country should wish to put forward comments on the list to the next session of the Codex Committee on Food Additives, they would have every opportunity to do so.
146. The Commission considered that the Secretariat might make available to the Codex Committee on Food Additives information on colours that should be prohibited. If such a paper was prepared, it would be circulated to Member Governments as a working paper for the Food Additives Committee.
