The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have announced a public meeting on March 5, 2009, to discuss agenda items and draft U.S. positions for the Third Session of the Codex Committee on Contaminants in Foods (CCCF) slated for March 23-27, 2009, in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Part of the Codex Alimentarius Commission established in 1963 by the Food and Agriculture Organization and World Health Organization, CCCF (i) sets maximum levels for contaminants and naturally occurring toxicants in food and feed; (ii) prepares priority lists of contaminants and naturally occurring toxicants for risk assessments by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives; (iii) considers methods of analysis and sampling for contaminants and naturally occurring toxicants; and (iv) establishes other standards and codes of practice for related subjects. Specific agenda items for the session also include: (i) a draft practice code for the reduction of acrylamide in food; (ii) a draft practice code for the reduction of contamination of food with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) from smoking and direct drying processes; (iii) a discussion paper on benzene in soft drinks; and (iv) a discussion paper on ethyl carbamate in alcoholic beverages.

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For decades, manufacturers, distributors and retailers at every link in the food chain have come to Shook, Hardy & Bacon to partner with a legal team that understands the issues they face in today's evolving food production industry. Shook attorneys work with some of the world's largest food, beverage and agribusiness companies to establish preventative measures, conduct internal audits, develop public relations strategies, and advance tort reform initiatives.

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