World Health Organization Codex Alimentarius

The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) jointiy sponsor the Codex Alimentarius Commission, which conducts a program for developing worldwide food standards. The Codex Committee for Cocoa Products and Chocolate has developed standards for chocolate (Codex Standard 87-1981), and cocoa powders and dry cocoa—sugar mixtures (Codex Standard 105-1981). As a member of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, the United States is obligated to consider all Codex standards for acceptance. 

Understanding the Codex Alimentarius. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations World Health Organization. Rome Editorial Group, FOA Information Division, 1999. 

The global nature of the food supply and world food trade have made food quality and food safety international issues. Hence, since its inception, the World Health Organization (WHO) has been working toward the improvement of food safety. In partnership with the Lood and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (LAO), WHO provides for the Secretariat of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC). The latter Commission is responsible for all matters pertaining to the implementation of the Joint LAO/WHO Lood Standards Program. 

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). 

To protect consumers health, many countries have restricted the use of pesticides by establishing legal directives on maximum residue levels (MRLs) to control their levels in food (28). These MRLs sometimes cause conflicts, because residue levels acceptable in one country may be unacceptable in others. This problem has revealed the need to harmonize the different MRLs, which have been dealt with mainly by two international organizations, the European Union (EU) at the European Level, and the Codex Alimentarius Commision of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) (28,29). 

In 1961/62 the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) established the Joint FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) to elaborate international food standards and codes of practice for questions related to food. Questions concerning contaminants were dealt with, partly by the Commodity Committees and partly in the Codex Committee for Food Additives and Contaminants (CCFAC). The Codex Alimentarius system concerning contaminants is described in section 12.2. 

Maximum residue level (MRL) Comparable to a U.S. tolerance level, the maximum residue level is the enforceable limit on food pesticide levels in some countries. Levels are set by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, a United Nations agency managed and funded jointly by the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization. 

Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme (1991b) Codex Alimentarius Commission Report of the Nineteenth Session, Rome, 1-10 July, 1991. Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations and World Health Organization, Rome, 1991. 

Another potentially important source of food safety expertise resides in the Joint Expert Committees on Food Additives (JECFA), first organized in 1956 by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) and now associated with these organizations Codex Alimentarius Commission. JECFA reports have influenced decisions by the FDA and other regulatory bodies, and its recommendations... 

Before an evaluation of the impact of a possible mycotoxin contamination in fruits on human health, the general procedure of risk assessment and the outcome thereof for mycotoxins by international agencies is briefly described. With the establishment of the World Trade Organization in 1995, standards and recommendations elaborated by the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) reflect the international consensus for health and safety requirements (Moy, 1998). The CAC is an intergovernmental institution, which was founded in 1963 by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 

There are a number of international standards for potable (drinkable) water quality in existence. The World Health Organization (WHO) has a standard for potable water quality as part of the Codex Alimentarius. The standard detailed in Table 3.3 is from the U.S. Departmental Protection Agency. 

Codex 19t)7a, June). Codex maximum residue limit for pesticides and extraneous re.siduc limits. Twenty-second Session, Codex Alimentarius Commission report. World Health Organization, Geneva. 

Sucrose esters have not been approved for use in the U.S.A. However, they were included on the list of food emulsifiers compiled by the Codex Alimentarius Committee of the Food and Agriculture Organization/ World Health Organization. In addition, a 1974 directive drafted by the nine countries of the European Economic Community ( ) placed sucrose esters with Annex I substances. Annex I substances are those likely to be approved for food use by all states of the EEC. 

Codex Alimentarius Commission (1983) Guide to the Safe Use of Food Additives. Second series. FAO, World Health Organization, Rome. 

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