Expert committees

Pubhc concerns about pesticides in the diet of infants and children resulted in an expert committee convened by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences which devoted four years to the review of all available data. A consensus report was issued in 1993 (80). A number of recommendations for further work to more precisely define what constitutes the diet of infants and children were made. No risk could be estimated. The residue data reviewed by the panel were mainly from monitoring studies conducted by the PDA using multiresidue methods to analyze fresh produce and market basket samples collected from various geographic areas (81,82). These and other rehable scientific studies have demonstrated that relatively few food samples contain detectable residues. Most residues are far below estabhshed tolerances which are set above the maximum residue found in treated raw agricultural... 

Furthermore, the Jokit Expert Committee on Food Additives (107) (fECFA) of the WHO and EAO of the United Nations issued the evaluation of the safety, statkig that on the basis of the available data, the total dietary kitake of glutamates arising from thek use at the levels necessary to achieve the desked technological effect and from thek acceptable background ki food does not, ki the opinion of the committee, represent a ha2ard to health. 

Joint EAO/WHO Ad Hoc Expert Committee, Report ofFMO Nutrition Meeting Geneva, 1973, Series No. 52 WHO Technical Report, Series No. 522. Joint EAO/WHO Expert Consultation, WHO Technical Report, Rome, 1985, Series No. 724. 

Joint Expert Committee on Pood Additives, World Health Organization, 1988. 

PAO/WHO Joint Expert Committee on Pood Additives, 17th Meeting, World Health Org. Tech. Peport Ser. 539, 16 (1974). 

Vanillin is Hsted in the Code of Federal Regulations by the FDA as a Generally Recogni2ed As Safe (GRAS) substance. The Council of Europe and the FAO/WHO Joint Expert Committee on Eood Additives have both given vanillin an unconditional Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) of 10 mg/kg. 

In addition to the formal committees specified in directives, the commission is assisted by other expert committees and working groups. Depending on the subject matter, these can be drawn from the regulatory bodies, the scientific community, or industry and end-user associations. 

FAOAVHO. 1976. Pesticide residues in food. Report of the 1975 Joint Meeting of the FAO Working Party of Experts on Pesticides Residues and the WHO Expert Committee on Pesticide Residues. Geneva, Switzerland Food and Agricultural Orgaiuzafion of the United Nations and World Health Organization. FAO Plant Production and Protection Series no. 1, WHO Technical Report Series no. 592. 

Vettorazzi G. 1975. State of the art of the toxicological evaluation carried out by the Joint EAOAVHO Expert Committee on Pesticide Residues I. Organohalogenated pesticides used in public health and agriculture. Residue Rev 56 107-134. 

One of the few phytochemicals that has been subjected to the rigorous testing procedures required by food safety authorities is P-carotene, a naturally-occurring carotenoid that is also a pre-cursor of vitamin A in humans. It is increasingly used as a food colour since the food product can be claimed to contain all natural ingredients. For this reason, detailed toxicological studies were undertaken that enabled the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee for Food Additives (JECFA) to set an ADI of 0-5 mg/kg/bw/day based on a NOAEL of 50 mg/day and the application of an uncertainty factor of 10 (JECFA, 1974). This low factor was used because it was argued that the compound occurred naturally in food, that its use as a food additive would not lead to a substantial increase in the total amount normally consumed, and that there had been no reports of adverse effects in humans. The ADI would correspond to an acceptable intake in humans of up to 350 mg/day. 

JECFA (1974) Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives. Evaluation of safety of synthetic beta-carotene. Evaluation 18/68. 

Penicilium oxalicum var. Armeniaca CCM 8242 strain produces an anthaquinone-type pigment related to carmine and patented as Arpink Red. The pigment is produced during batch submerse cultivation, harvested, and purified. It is presently under evaluation by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) for use as a food colorant. ... 

The EU laws follow three principles related to consumer health (1) protection, (2) fraud prevention, and (3) trade barriers. The union tried to harmonize the laws of different countries, particularly in recent years when the enlargement of the European Community became dynamic. Color Directive 94/36/EC contains horizontal provisions that refer to common laws in different countries and vertical directives that apply to specific foods. The EU directives take into account the recommendations of the Scientific Committee for Food (SCF), the Codex AUmen-tarius Commission, and the Joint Food and Agriculture OrganizationAVorld Health Organization (FAOAVHO) Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA). 

Joint FAOAVHO Expert Committee on Food Additives, Toxicological Evaluation of Some Food Colours, Enzymes, Flavour Enhancers, Thickening Agents, and Certain Other Food Additives, WHO Food Series, Geneva, 6, 74, 1975. 

Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations and World Health Organization, Summary of Evaluations Performed by the Joint EAO/WHO Expert Committee on Eood Additives (JECFA 1956-2005), International Life Sciences Institnte, Washington, 2006. 

In Cuba, Tunisia and Venezuela, the dmg regulatory authorities are departments within the executive branch, the Ministry of Health, which possesses decision-making powers regarding dmg regulation. Expert committees are consulted on technical issues, rather than as decision-making bodies. Under this stmcture, the superior agency (the Ministry of Health) theoretically has the authority to alter a decision if it chooses to do so. 

Australia Newsletter Inclusion in committees Seminar with industry Inclusion in committees Website Recommendations of expert committees made public Annual report... 

Good manufacturing practices for pharmaceutical products. In WHO Expert Committee on Specifications for Pharmaceutical Preparations. Thirty-second report. Geneva, World Health Organization, 1992 (WHO Technical Report Series, No. 823, Annex 1). 

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