The theme for this year’s World Food Safety Day celebrations has been unveiled! It is – Food safety: science in action. The theme recognizes the key role played by science in ensuring the credibility and accuracy of food safety guidance and advice used by governments, food businesses and consumers alike. However, the theme goes further, by reminding us that food can only be safe if the guidance and advice is put into action. For this reason, the World Food Safety Day slogan [...]

Madame Adana Maimouna heads up a 1200-member shea butter cooperative society in Nahouri province, Burkina Faso. Every member of her cooperative is a woman. The shea butter sector is dominated by women, who make up 98 percent of the entrepreneurs within the supply chain in countries across West Africa. According to Adana, the income women earn from working in the shea butter sector allows them both to support their families and to contribute to the development of their communities. Since the adoption [...]

by CropLife International A new independent research study commissioned by CropLife International shines a spotlight on the role that Codex Alimentarius is playing in the facilitation of international coffee trade -whilst protecting consumer safety and confidence. The study, undertaken by Bryant Christie Inc., showed Codex Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) to be key in reducing the risk of trade disruption in the complex coffee processing and production chain.  Among 40 trade partners whose coffee MRL standards were viewed in the study, 15 maintain [...]

An event was jointly organized 19 February by the Food and Veterinary Agency of North Macedonia and FAO to promote and highlight the key role of Codex standards in protecting consumer health and facilitating fair practices in the food trade. The meeting, which was attended by 40 representatives from key institutions from across North Macedonia, aimed to help the country’s National Codex Committee raise awareness about Codex among key stakeholders, as part of a Codex Trust Fund (CTF) project. In a [...]

Stand by for the 7 March launch of World Food Safety Day 2025! The World Food Safety Day team is working to launch a “Get started Toolkit” which will be available in all six United Nations languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish) and will provide information about this year’s theme, and the posters, social media cards and other assets you will be able to use to organize, participate in and promote World Food Safety Day activities this year. As [...]

The 23rd session of the Codex Committee on Fresh Fruits and Vegetables (CCFFV) has concluded in Mexico City, with the much-anticipated proposed standard for fresh dates finally agreed after ten years of discussion. The proposed text will be forwarded to the next Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) meeting for adoption. Chairperson, Andrea Genoveva Solano Rendon, hailed the successes of the week-long meeting: “We have had the opportunity of debating, of discussing and progressing standards that will rule the trade of one of [...]

The 23rd session of the Codex Committee on Fresh Fruits and Vegetables (CCFFV) has opened in Mexico City, with a warm welcome from Mexico’s Minister of the Economy and Under Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and opening remarks from the Codex Vice Chairperson, Codex Secretary and CCFFV Chairperson. In his opening remarks, Marcelo Luis Ebrard Casaubon, Minister of the Economy, pointed to the multilateral nature of Codex work. With 80 nations represented at the meeting this week, [...]

Great progress was made in the fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the Plurinational State of Bolivia at the end of January, when officials and professionals met to agree on next steps for introducing e-prescriptions for veterinary antimicrobial drugs. The move is a bid to combat the threat of foodborne AMR in the country by restricting access to and overuse of some drugs, which are becoming ineffective against some bacterial, viral, fungal and parasitic organisms, causing a threat to life. The [...]

As part of the Codex Trust Fund project in Zimbabwe, FAO has carried out training to disseminate knowledge and build capacity, particularly in relation to the Codex standards-setting process. The four-day workshop took place 3–7 February 2025 and was attended by participants from both the public and private sectors. “The training is part of the Codex Trust Fund project, which seeks to rejuvenate Codex Alimentarius activities in Zimbabwe by expanding knowledge and understanding of Codex at national level among key policy [...]

A recent surveillance study of foodborne antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Cambodia has revealed an urgent need for stricter regulations on antimicrobial use in the country’s livestock sector. Carried out under the FAO-implemented and Republic of Korea-funded Action to support implementation of Codex AMR texts (ACT) project, the study also underscores the importance of routine AMR monitoring, and the adoption of targeted interventions, such as improved biosecurity measures and vaccination programmes, to reduce the need of antibiotics and mitigate the spread [...]