Edible fats and oils have been traded and shipped for thousands of years, as they form an important part of the human diet. Increasing global food trade has meant that the geographical source of these commodities has been broadening steadily. The availability of sea-going vessels reserved for the transport of foodstuffs is insufficient to serve the continuing trade in oils and fats intended for or likely to be used for human consumption. It is also impractical to expect sea-going bulk tankers to return empty to the original loading posts upon delivery of their cargo of fats and oils.

In 2004 FAO and WHO agreed that more work was needed in this area and this was endorsed by the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene. FAO and WHO then initiated a programme of activities to address this, with the ultimate objective of providing guidance in the application of MRA to establish specific numerical targets or standards. These activities have included the establishment of a number of working groups to look at the issues and the results of microbiological risk assessment to develop food control measures, with particular emphasis on the establishment of targets or metrics and their application. The outputs of these working groups and other relevant documentation were then considered and discussed by an expert meeting convened in Kiel,...

The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) is an international expert scientific committee that is administered jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). It has been meeting since 1956, initially to evaluate the safety of food additives. Its work now also includes the evaluation of contaminants, naturally occurring toxicants and residues of veterinary drugs in food.