Codex Alimentarius standard level

TABLE 7. Codex Alimentarius Standard Levels of Desmethylsterols in Peanut Oil (102). 

The standards and limits adopted by the Codex Alimentarius Commission are intended for formal acceptance by governments in accordance with its general principles. Codex Alimentarius permits only those antioxidants which have been evaluated by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) for use in foods. Antioxidants may be used only in foods standardised by Codex. The antioxidant provisions of Codex Commodity Standards are included in and superseded by the provision of this Standard. Food categories or individual foods where the use of additives are not allowed or are restricted are defined by this Standard. The primary objective of establishing permitted levels of use of antioxidants in various food groups is to ensure that the intake does not exceed the acceptable daily intake (ADI). 

While all nations of the world possess the sovereign right to establish their own acceptable levels for pesticide residues in foods, many lack the resources to develop their own regulatory programs and instead rely upon a set of international standards developed by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, frequently referred to as Codex. The Codex international standards are termed maximum residue limits (MRLs) and, like U.S. tolerances, are established primarily as enforcement tools for determining whether pesticide applications are made according to established directions. While many countries have adopted Codex MRLs, others, such as the U.S. and several Asian countries, rely on their own standards. Thus, there is no uniformity among the world with respect to allowable levels of pesticides on foods. A pesticide-commodity... 

Toxicological evaluations of food additives and of contaminants, naturally occurring toxicants and residues of veterinary drugs in food produced by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), and of pesticide residues in food by the Joint FAO/WHO Meeting on Pesticide Residues (JMPR) are used by the Codex Alimentarius Commission and national governments to set international food standards and safe levels for protection of the consumer. 

In most European countries, honey is defined in similar terms. However, certain quality factors considered by Europeans, especially the Germans, of importance in the marketing of honey are the levels of the enzymes invertase and diastase, and of 5-(hydroxymethyl)-2-furaldehyde. White has discussed these requirements in relation to suggested standards for the Codex Alimentarius.32 The German insistence on these requirements is outlined in a volume of Apiacta.33... 

On the international level, relevant standards are available from the IUPAC, ISO, and AOAC International [4, 8,16,17] and from the Codex Alimentarius working group CCMAS [18-21]. Other helping guides have been published by the EAL [22] and ILAC [23] (see Table 1 for explanation of abbreviations). 

Internationally, the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) periodically considers food additives, including antioxidants, on the basis of all available scientific data to establish acceptable daily intake levels (92) and specifications on the identity and purity of the additives. The conclusions of JECFA are published in numerous reports and technological summaries by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the WHO Technical Report Series and WHO Food Additives Series. Such information provided by JECFA is used by the Joint FAO/ WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission in implementing the Joint FAO/WHO Standards Program, which was established to elaborate international standards for foods to protect the health of consumers, to ensure fair practices in food trade, and to facilitate international trade (90). 

The procedures used by the US to establish tolerances are similar to those used by the Codex Alimentarius Commission to determine their analogous Maximum Residue Levels (MRLs). One comparison of US tolerances and Codex MRLs demonstrated that the two sets of standards were equivalent 47 percent of the time while US tolerances were lower 19 percent of the time and Codex MRLs were lower (and therefore more stringent) 34 percent of the time. Some of these differences were explained to result from different agricultural production and pest control practices, the use of different data sets, and differences in how the breakdown products of some pesticides are regulated (General Accounting Office, 1991). 

In the Codex Alimentarius (42), maximum free fatty acid levels are specified as 0.65% for lard, 1.00% for premier jus, and 1.25% for rendered pork fat and edible tallow. For all these, a peroxide maximum of lO-miUiequivalents active oxygen per kilogram fat is specified. The Codex standards also specify levels for antioxidants and antioxidant synergists and maximum allowed amounts of impurities, soaps, and certain metals. 

In addition to the USDA standards, The Named Vegetable Oil Standard from the Codex Alimentarius Committee on Fats and Oils (Codex Alimentarius, 2006) identifies quality characteristics that oils must meet for international trade. For example, the standard states that an oil should be characteristic of the designated product and be free of foreign and rancid odor and taste. Maximum levels of matter volatile at 105°C (ISO 662 1998) (ISO, 2005) should be 0.2% m/m, insoluble purities (ISO 663 1998) (ISO, 2005) 0.05% m/m, and 0.005% m/m soap content [AOCS Cel7-95 (97)] (AOCS, 2005). Limits for metals are 1.5 mg/kg iron (Fe) in refined oils, whereas only 0.1 mg/kg of copper (Cu) is allowed in refined oils. For methods to measure Fe and Cu, use ISO 8294 1994 (ISO, 2005) or AOCS Ca 18b-91 (97) (AOCS, 2005). Limits for oil deterioration include peroxide value and acid value. Codex allows up to 10 meq/kg oil for refined oils. Acid value limits range from a low of 0.6 mg/KOH/g oil for refined oils. 

The draft Codex infant formula standard (Codex Alimentarius Commission, 2006b), in section 4.1.7, proposes the following maximum levels in the product ready for consumption ... 

The same applies to heavy metals in LEAR oils examined by Elson et al. (1979). Zinc, lead, cadmium, and copper values (Table XXI) are similar to literature values assembled by Ackman (1977). Mercury and arsenic in rape-seed oils included in that report are at levels similar to those for soybean oil (Thomas, 1982b). They meet or surpass Codex Alimentarius Proposed Standards (see below). Correlations of some metals pairs in oilseeds, including mustard, have been reported (Deosthale, 1981) but do not necessarily relate to oils. Trace metals in oils have to be considered as factors in stability (Fli-der and Orthoefer, 1981), as analytical challenges (Pickford, 1981), or as micronutrients (Chesters, 1981). Metals such as iron, and even phosphorus, in crude soy and LEAR oils are poor predictors of the quality of refined oils (Sambuc et al., 1982). 

On the international level the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Hlava-cek, 1981 Wessels, 1981) has a draft standard for "Edible low erucic acid rapeseed oil" at step 8 of the Codex Procedure. This standard is reproduced in the version available in early 1982 (Appendix II) and is not the final standard. 

FAO/WHO (1973) List of maximum levels recommended for contaminants. Food Standards Programme, Codex Alimentarius Commission, CAC/FAC-2, Rome. 

The recommendations of the JECFA and the JMPR are recognised as sound scientific advice and many countries base their food laws and regulations on them. The Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme, implemented through the Codex Alimentarius Commission, also makes use of the JECFA and JMPR recommendations. In the course of their work the Codex Committee on Food Additives and the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues develop maximum levels (ML) or maximum residue levels (MRL), respectively, which form important parts of individual food standards. The Codex Alimentarius Commission is developing these standards to meet its two major objectives, namely to protect the health of the consumer and to ensure fair practice in the food trade. 

The source of international food standards. Codex Alimentarius, is pubHshed by the Food and Agricultural Organization and World Health Organization (FAOAVHO) of the United Nations. In Europe, the sources of food standards are EU directives. The Codex Committee on Food Additives and Contaminants (CCFAC) deals with the issue of additives, contaminants and natural toxins in food, and also proposes the Maximum Residue Level (MRL, in mg/kg food) for food additives, for example, in the case of arbitration of the World Trade Organisation. The advisory body of CCFAC is the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), composed of experts from Member States and Associated Countries of the FAO/WHO. Recommendations for the EU come from a committee of experts nominated by an authority called the Scientific Committee for Food (SCF). These recommendations are converted into legislative form in different countries. In the United States, for example, the source of food standards is the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). 

---