Codex Issues More Than 30 New Food-Related Rules

During a recent week-long meeting in Rome, Italy, the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) adopted more than 30 standards and guidelines designed to protect consumers’ health, such as cutting the levels of potential cancer-causing chemicals and bacteria in foods. Among the rules adopted by the joint body of the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization were measures to reduce acrylamide, a chemical by-product of high-temperature cooking processes that has allegedly been linked to cancer. “Applying Codex standards and guidelines are an important part of ensuring that consumers in every part of the world can be protected from unsafe food,” an FAO spokesperson was quoted as saying.

CAC also adopted criteria for Salmonella and other bacteria in powdered formula for children ages 6 months and older and microbiological testing parameters aimed at helping producers control and prevent contamination of ready-to-eat foods with Listeria. See Reuters; FoodNavigator-USA.com, July 6, 2009.