United States Food Advisory Committee

Before a new product gains approval to be marketed in the United States, two major steps must be taken. One is the technical or scientific review, in which reviewers from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and sometimes an outside advisory committee of experts, review the scientific and clinical data to determine the product s safety and efficacy. As part of that review, an FDA investigator is sent... 

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). 

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