4. The Committee noted matters arising from the 23rd Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), 28 June-3 July 1999; the 23rd and 24th Sessions of the Codex Committee on Food Labelling (CCFL), held on 27-30 April 1999 and on 5-9 May 2000; the 22nd Session of the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling (CCMAS), 23-27 November 1998, and the 22nd Session of the Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues (CCPR), held on 1-8 May 2000 and decided to discuss specific concerns under the relevant Agenda Items.
5. The Committee also noted the outcome of the FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on Human Vitamin and Mineral Requirements held in Bangkok, Thailand, 21-30 September 1998. The Committee was informed that the WHO/UNICEF Technical Consultation on Infant and Young Child Feeding, had been held in Geneva, 13-17 March 2000 and a further information on this Consultation was requested.
Proposed Draft Amendment to the Guidelines on Nutrition Labelling
6. The Committee recalled that its last session had considered the request of the Committee on Food Labelling to determine if public health needs required additional mandatory labelling of all of sugars, fibre, saturated fats and sodium when nutrition labelling was applicable as a result of declaration of any of those nutrients. The Committee had agreed that this question should be discussed further at the 22nd Session. The Committee noted that the Proposed Draft Amendment had been partially redrafted and returned to Step 3 for further comments by the 28th Session of the CCFL (May 2000).[3]
7. The Delegation of Malaysia, supported by some delegations, proposed to add the declaration of monounsaturated and trans-fatty acids where claims were made concerning the amount of fatty acids. The Committee however recalled that the request of the CCFL concerned the general issue of nutrition labelling in relation to public health, and that specific comments on the text of the Proposed Draft Amendment would be addressed in the framework of the CCFL.
8. Several delegations stressed the importance of providing information to consumers on sugars, fibre, saturated fatty acids and sodium when a claim was made for one of these nutrients, in view of public health concerns and scientific evidence regarding the relationship between diet and health, especially for the nutrients considered. This was especially relevant in view of the efforts made by many countries, including developing countries, to improve nutrition education in order to allow consumers to make informed choices and generally improve the nutritional and health status of the population. Several delegations pointed out that nutrition labelling should remain applicable on a voluntary basis or in the case where a specific claim was made.
9. The Committee agreed that in view of public health concerns and in order to improve consumer information the additional declaration of sugars, fibre, saturated fats and sodium should be required when any of one of these nutrients were mentioned in nutrition labelling. The Committee noted that the CCFL was responsible for the finalization of the Proposed Draft Amendment and that specific comments on the text would be addressed in the framework of that Committee.
Sports and Energy Drinks
10. The Committee noted that the 27th Session of the CCFL agreed to discontinue work on Proposed Draft Recommendations for Sports and Energy Drinks until the CCNFSDU provides advice on whether sports drinks should be considered as foods for special dietary uses and on the conditions for the claim for high energy. The Committee agreed to consider this question under Agenda Item 14 Other Business and Future Work (see paras 139-143).
Other Legitimate Factors
11. The Committee noted the oral presentation of the Secretariat that the Codex Committee on General Principles while considering the Review of the Statements of Principle on the Role of Science and the Extent to which Other Legitimate Factors are Taken into Account: Role of Science and Other Legitimate Factors in Relation to Risk Analysis had agreed that the CCNFSDU should be invited to consider the integration of other legitimate factors in its activities involving risk analysis aspects. The Committee agreed to consider this question under Agenda Item 13 where the application of a risk -based approach in the work of the Committee would be discussed (see paras 132-135).
