16. The Committee recalled that the Executive Committee at its 43rd Session approved the elaboration of a standard for aqueous coconut products as new work in response to the proposal of the 10th Session of this Committee. The Committee at its 11th Session, after briefly considering the text prepared by Malaysia at Step 4, decided to return it to Step 3 for redrafting[7]. A new text redrafted by Malaysia was circulated for comments at Step 3[8].
17. The Committee considered the Proposed Draft Standard for Aqueous Coconut Products at Step 4. As a basis of discussion, the Committee agreed to use the text contained in CX/ASIA 99/4-Add.1 which retains the same technical specifications as in the original text in CX/ASIA 99/4, except those already covered by the existing Codex general recommendations, but reformatted in the Codex standard format.
Scope
18. The Delegation of China stated that the contents of sweet and/or flavoured coconut beverages were different from the specifications in the Standard. It was clarified that the Standard covered only coconut milk and coconut cream products. The Committee agreed to insert the following sentence at the end of the Section:
”This standard does not cover sweetened and/or flavoured coconut beverages.”Essential Composition and Quality Factor
19. The Committee agreed to include sodium caseinate in a new subsection on permitted ingredients.
20. On the question of whether or not the table in the subsection on composition contained quality factors and needed to be transferred to an annex, the Committee noted that for the purpose of the denomination of products, the specifications of these products should be in the body of the text. The Committee, however, agreed to amend values in the table according to the comments of Thailand (except for the fat content in skim coconut milk) and the proposal of the Delegation of India concerning the fat content in skim coconut milk to reflect the balance between the contents of total solids and fat.
21. Concerning the request to reduce the minimum pH for skim coconut milk from 5.9 to 5.5, the Committee noted that: this reduction would not be feasible for products undergoing sterilization; usually pH 6.2-6.4 would be resulted if good quality coconuts were used; and the minimum pH of 5.9 was necessary to ensure that the product was free from rancidity.
Food Additives
22. The Committee agreed to insert the proposals of Thailand in the food additive provision. However, due to their late availability, the Committee decided to place them in square brackets for further consideration.
23. Concern was raised by the Delegation of Singapore on the need to use sodium benzoate since the product is pasteurized. The Committee was informed by the Delegation of Thailand that this use had already been included in the Draft Table of the General Standard for Food Additives.
Weight and Measures
24. The Delegation of India stated that the minimum fill of 90% was not feasible for certain packages with extended shelf life.
Labelling
25. The Committee agreed to delete the subsection on the labelling of nutritive values as it felt inappropriate to make it mandatory and the provision is well covered by the Codex Guidelines on Nutrition Labelling.
26. The Committee also agreed to delete the subsection on the declaration of the use of sulphur dioxide as the declaration of used food additives was stipulated in the Codex General Standard for the Labelling of Prepackaged Foods and metabisulphite salts were now included in the list of food additives (see para. 22).
Annex
27. The Committee agreed to include in an annex those provisions on the composition and labelling regarding the grading of coconut milk.
Status of the Proposed Draft Standard for Aqueous Coconut Products
28. The Committee agreed to advance the Proposed Draft Standard to Step 5 for adoption by the 47th Session of the Executive Committee and further development by the Codex Committee on Processed Fruits and Vegetables. The amended text is attached to this report as Appendix II.
