DRAFT CODEX STANDARD FOR PICKLES
DRAFT CODEX STANDARD FOR KIMCHI
DRAFT CODEX STANDARD FOR CANNED BAMBOO SHOOTS
DRAFT CODEX STANDARD FOR AQUEOUS COCONUT PRODUCTS
PROPOSED DRAFT CODEX STANDARD FOR CANNED STONE FRUITS
43. The 11th Session of the Codex Coordinating Committee for Asia advanced[26] the proposed draft Codex Standard for Pickles for adoption by the 45th Session of the Executive Committee at Step 5. The 45th CCEXEC adopted (see para.7) the proposed draft Standard at Step 5 and advanced it to Step 6 for comment under CL 1998/25-PFV with the understanding that the Standard would be further elaborated by the CCPFV.
Title of the Standard
44. As the Committee noted that English use of the term “Pickle” often referred to pickled cucumbers only, it agreed to amend the title and all references within the standard to “Pickled Products”. A footnote was also added to the title to restrict the Standard to products of “plant origin only”.
Section 1 - Scope
45. The Scope was amended to indicate that pickled products were acidic products packed in oil, brine or other acidic media.
Section 3.1.2 - Optional Ingredients
46. As the term “jaggery” was uncommon in many areas of the world, it was replaced by the phrase “unrefined nutritive sweeteners”, pending further clarification at the next Session of the CCPFV.
Section 4 - Food Additives
47. The Committee noted that the food additive provisions were endorsed by the 31st Session of the Codex Committee on Food Additives and Contaminants (CCFAC) and as directed by that Committee, deleted the provision for the use of oleoresins.
Section 7.1 - Name of the Food
48. The Committee noted that the labelling provisions were endorsed by the Codex Committee on Food Labelling (CCFL) and as directed by that Committee deleted the text under Section 7.2 in regard to use of the term “vegetarian”.
Section 8 - Methods of Analysis
49. The Committee deleted all references to methods of analysis in Section 8 of the Standard, and inserted the phrase “See Codex Alimentarius Volume 13”. The Committee further agreed that this decision would apply to all subsequent standards under its consideration.
Annex to the Standard
50. The Committee deleted Section 1.1 - Types as it was already included in Section 1 - Scope, in the main body of the Standard. The Quality Criteria under Section 1.2 were transferred to a new Section 3.1 in the main body of the Standard, while Section 2 - Other Methods of Analysis were deleted in their entirety as indicated in paragraph 49 above.
Status of the Draft Codex Standard for Pickled Products
51. The Committee returned the draft Codex Standard for Pickled Products to Step 6 for circulation, comment and further consideration at its next meeting (see Appendix VI).
52. The 11th Session of the Codex Coordinating Committee for Asia advanced[28] the proposed draft Codex Standard for Kimchi for adoption by the 45th Session of the Executive Committee at Step 5. The 45th CCEXEC adopted (see para. 7) the proposed draft Standard at Step 5 and advanced it to Step 6 for comment under CL 1998/25-PFV with the understanding that the Standard would be further elaborated by the CCPFV.
Section 4 - Food Additives
53. The Committee noted that the food additive provisions were endorsed by the 31st Session of the Codex Committee on Food Additives and Contaminants (CCFAC) and as directed by that Committee, changed the provisions for carrageenan and xanthan gum to good manufacturing practice as the additives had “not specified” ADIs.
Inclusion of New Section 5 - Contaminants
54. The Committee added new Sections 5.1 - Heavy Metals and 5.2 - Pesticide Residues with a general reference to those levels established by the Codex Alimentarius Commission for the commodity as had been accomplished for other standards under consideration by the Committee.
Annex to the Standard
55. The Style provisions under Section 1.1 were transferred to a new Section 2.2 - Styles in the main body of the Standard, while Section 2 - Other Composition and Quality Factors, was transferred to the main body of the Standard as new Sections 3.1.3 - Other Composition and 3.2.1 - Other Quality Criteria. The sentence in Section 3.1 - Style under Other Labelling Requirements was transferred to Section 6.1 - Name of the Food in the main body of the Standard.
Status of the Draft Codex Standard for Kimchi
56. The Committee forwarded the draft Codex Standard for Kimchi to the 24th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission for adoption at Step 8 (see Appendix IV).
57. The 10th Session of the Codex Coordinating Committee for Asia advanced[30] the proposed draft Codex Standard for Bamboo Shoots for adoption by the 43rd Session of the Executive Committee at Step 5. The 43rd CCEXEC adopted[31] the proposed draft Standard at Step 5 and advanced it to Step 6 for comment with the understanding that the Standard would be further elaborated by the CCPFV. The 19th Session of the CCPFV considered[32] the Standard and returned it to Step 6 for redrafting by the delegation of Thailand in collaboration with the Codex Secretariat. Due to time constraints, the revised text was not circulated for additional comments prior to the current meeting.
Section 2.1 - Product Definition
58. This Section was modified to indicate that bamboo shoots is a product prepared “with or without fermentation”. The Committee also added a new sub-section (c) containing pH ranges for different preparations of bamboo shoots and as a consequence, Section 3.5 - Acid Base Condition, was deleted.
Section 3.2 - Packing Media
59. The Committee deleted the footnote to the title of the Section; removed the square brackets from the provision contained therein and deleted “with or without food additives” from the sentence.
Section 3.3 - Other Permitted Ingredients
60. The Committee placed the phrase “Aromatic plants” in square brackets pending the development of a more specific provision at its next meeting.
Section 4 - Food Additives
61. The Committee noted that the food additive provisions were endorsed by the 31st Session of the Codex Committee on Food Additives and Contaminants (CCFAC) and as directed by that Committee, inserted a maximum level of 1300 mg/kg for tartaric acid.
Annex to the Standard
62. The Committee moved Section 1.1 - Styles from the Annex to a new Section 2.3 - Styles in the body of the Standard. The new Section 2.3 - Styles was rearranged and reworded for clarity. Section 2 - Other Quality Factors in the Annex was moved to a new Section 3.4.1 - Other Quality Factors in the main body of the Standard.
63. Section 3 - Weights and Measures was moved to a new Section 8 - Weights and Measures in the main body of the Standard and remained in square brackets pending further discussion at the next session of the CCPFV. The Labelling Requirements concerning Style - Section 4.1 was moved to Section 7.1 - Name of the Product, in the body of the Standard.
Status of the Draft Codex Standard for Canned Bamboo Shoots
64. The Committee returned the draft Codex Standard for Canned Bamboo Shoots to Step 6 for circulation, comment and further consideration at its next meeting (see Appendix V).
65. The most recent 12th Session of the Codex Coordinating Committee for Asia advanced[34] the proposed draft Codex Standard for Aqueous Coconut Products for adoption by the 47th Session of the Executive Committee at Step 5 and for further development by the CCPFV. The 47th CCEXEC adopted (see para. 8) the proposed draft Standard at Step 5 and advanced it to Step 6 for comment under CL 2000/15-GEN[35] with a comment deadline of 31 December 2000 and therefore, the draft Standard was not discussed in detail in the current meeting due to the pending comment deadline.
66. The Codex Secretariat also noted that the Codex Committee on Food Labelling did not endorse the labelling provisions in the standard. The CCFL could not reach consensus on the use of the term “light” and “skim” in coconut milk as well as on the possibility to combine “coconut cream concentrate” and “concentrated coconut cream” as they appeared to describe the same product.
67. The delegation of Malaysia noted that the title of the Standard should read as “Codex Standard for Aqueous Coconut Products - Coconut Milk and Coconut Cream” to allow for the development of other related products. It was also noted that as had been accomplished for other Standards, the Annex should be moved into the main body of the Standard, and that the use of benzoates should not be allowed.
68. As the draft Standard was already circulated for comments at Step 6 (see para. 65) after Step 5 adoption by the 47th Session of the CCEXEC, the Codex Secretariat encouraged the submission of additional comments as directed in the circular letter for consideration at the next Session of the CCPFV.
Status of the Draft Codex Standard for Aqueous Coconut Products
69. The Committee agreed to consider the draft Codex Standard for Aqueous Coconut Products (ALINORM 01/15, Appendix II) at Step 7 at its next Session on the basis of comments which will be submitted at Step 6 in response to CL 2000/15-GEN.
70. As directed by the Commission to elaborate horizontal and general as opposed to specific standards when possible (see para. 5), the 19th Session of the CCPFV decided to combine the Proposed Draft Codex Standards for Canned Apricots, Canned Peaches and Canned Plums, including the addition of canned cherries, into a proposed draft Codex Standard for Canned Stone Fruits.[37] The Committee circulated the Proposed Draft Standard at Step 3 for comment and the 45th Session of the CCEXEC approved the elaboration of the Standard as new work (see para. 7).
Title of the Standard
71. A footnote was added to the Title of the Standard to indicate that the Standard only applied to stone fruits of the genus Prunus.
Section 2.2 - Species
72. The Committee agreed to include the common names “bigarreaux” and “griottes” along with the designations for sweet and sour cherries, respectively.
Section 3.2 - Packing Media
73. The packing media provisions were removed from this Section in their entirety pending the development of specific provisions for canned stone fruits.
Section 4 - Food Additives
74. The provision for Tartaric Acid was changed to a maximum level of 1300 mg/kg and the provisions for the use of antioxidants were expanded to all products covered by the Standard. Provisions for Erythrosine in sweet cherries were added at a level of 200 mg/kg, singly or in combination with Allura Red and Ponceau 4R. The provision for the use of “Any safe and suitable natural colour extract” would be discussed at the next Session on the basis of the endorsement process at the Codex Committee on Food Additives and Contaminants.
Annex to the Standard
75. Section A.1.2.1.2 - Colour Type was clarified to indicate that the color ranges were only applicable to the flesh of the ripe fruit. A new Section A1.2.2.7, Quetsches, was added to Section A1.2.2 - Plums. A new Section A1.2.3 was added for Sweet Light (Bigarreaux), Sweet Dark and Sour (Griottes) Cherries. The entire Section A1.2 was moved to Section 2 - Description in the main body of the Standard.
76. In Section A2.1.1 - Colour Type, the square brackets were removed and it was clarified that except for artificially coloured canned plums and cherries the colour should be normal for the varietal type. In Sections A2.1.4.1 and A2.1.5(e) all references to suture cuts for apricots were deleted, pending further discussion at the next meeting. In Section A2.1.5(b) - Crushed or Broken a statement was added that “In the case of plums and cherries, blemishes should not seriously affect the appearance of the product”. The delegation of France requested that defects and blemishes should be addressed separately, including appropriate values. The entire Section 2.1 in the Annex was moved to Section 3.4 - Quality Criteria in the main body of the Standard.
77. Section A2.2 - Classification of Defectives and A2.3 - Lot Acceptance were moved to the main body of the Standard as new Sections 3.5 and 3.6, respectively. Section A3 - Weights and Measures was transferred to the main body of the Standard with the square brackets included; Section A4 - Other Labelling Requirements was transferred to the main body of the Standard.
Status of the Proposed Draft Codex Standard for Canned Stone Fruits
78. The Committee forwarded the draft Codex Standard for Canned Stone Fruits to the 24th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission for adoption at Step 5 (see Appendix VII). It was noted that the food additive and labelling provisions would be forwarded to the Codex Committee on Food Additives and Contaminants and on Food Labelling, respectively, for endorsement.
