The 28th session of the Codex Committee on Fats and Oils (CCFO) adopted its meeting report on Friday 23 February having agreed on all agenda items. The meeting successfully concluded discussion on all five proposed new oils on the agenda and, in the words of Chairperson Ms Norrani Eksan, “We even managed to conclude discussion on the longstanding item of revision of the Standard for Olive Oils and Olive Pomace Oils, acknowledging more data will become available in the future,” in reference to work that has been the subject of much debate and diverging views within the Committee.

As such, Ms Eksan remarked “I’m of the view that this has been a highly productive session and a hugely successful one too. Indeed, this may be one of the most fruitful sessions of CCFO.”

In addition to the agreement on olive oils and olive pomace oils, CCFO28 agreed to include avocado oil, camellia seed oil, sacha inchi oil and high oleic acid soya bean oil in the Standard for Named Vegetable Oils (CXS 210-1999), and Calanus oil in the Standard for Fish Oils (CXS 329-2017). All six items will be forwarded to the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) for adoption later this year.

The success of the meeting was attributed, in part, to the return to an in-person session, with Ms Eksan joking that it could be down to the “magic” of Kuala Lumpur. Nonetheless, Codex’s Food Standards Officer, Patrick Sekitoleko said “Meeting in person in Kuala Lumpur facilitated extensive negotiations in the margins of CCFO and, together with the cooperation of all delegates and the guidance of the Chairperson of CCFO28, succeeded in sending all draft standards on its agenda to CAC47 for adoption.”

Significantly, the meeting also agreed on new work to address ways of reducing industrial trans fatty acids (TFAs) and of eliminating partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs) from foods. This work is part of a broader mission on the part of the World Health Organization (WHO) to combat TFAs and PHOs, which can contribute significantly to poor health and, in particular, to noncommunicable diseases (NCDs).

Read more

CCFO28 webpage
WHO’s action package to eliminate industrially produced trans-fat from the global food supply (REPLACE)