Last week, at its 51st session in Jinan China, the Codex Committee on Food Additives (CCFA) adopted the changes needed to harmonise provisions in the 13 Codex Standards for ripened cheeses (Cheddar, Danbo, Gouda, Havarti, Edam, Samso, Emmental, Tilsiter, Saint Paulin, Provolone, Camembert, Brie and Coulommiers), removing an international trade challenge for exports of ripened cheeses.

This is an important decision that will have a positive impact on the dairy sector. One of the major challenges for manufacturers, importers and exporters in recent times has been that Codex has two sets of references for the additives that are allowed in foods: the commodity standards, which contain a specific list of additives for foods that are covered by the standards, and Codex’s General Standard for Food Additives (GSFA), which covers the additive provisions for both standardised and non-standardised foods.

One of IDF’s priorities has been the alignment with GSFA

With consumers wanting to be more informed on what is in their food and manufacturers wanting to be clear about what is allowed to be added, having two legitimate but misaligned lists has been confusing and poses potential problems for international trade. Consequently, one of IDF’s priorities has been the alignment of the food additives provisions in the 27 dairy standards with the relevant food categories in the GSFA. The goal has been to harmonise standards to eliminate the confusion and trade disruptions created by the diverging provisions.

By Aurélie Dubois, IDF Science and Standards Programme Manager and Keith Johnston (NZ) Leader of the Action Team on Alignment of the IDF Standing Committee on Food Additives

Read more on the IDF website

Photocredit ©FAO/Sergei Gapon