Meeting Slated for Codex Committee on Food Contaminants

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Drug Administration, Office
of the Under Secretary for Food Safety, and U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services have announced a February 22, 2011, public meeting
in College Park, Maryland, to provide information and receive public
comments on draft U.S. positions to be discussed at the 5th session of the
Codex Committee on Contaminants in Foods (CCCF) on March 21-25 in The
Hague, The Netherlands. Among other things, CCCF “establishes or endorses
permitted maximum levels of contaminants, and where necessary revises
existing guidelines for contaminants and naturally occurring toxicants in food
and feed.”

Agenda items include proposed draft maximum levels for melamine in liquid
infant formula, deoxynivalenol and its acetylated derivatives in cereals and
cereal-based products, and total aflaxtoxins in dried figs. Topics for discussion
papers include mycotoxins in sorghum, arsenic in rice, ochratoxin A in cocoa,
and furan. See Federal Register, February 15, 2011.