World Food Day 2023 is celebrated under the theme "Water is life, water is food. Leave no one behind". FAO is hosting a week-long series of events from Monday 16 to Friday 20 October welcoming world leaders, experts, changemakers, youth and indigenous activists to spark global action for water, climate action and sustainable agrifood systems. Water is essential for life and it is, indeed, food. But it is also essential in food production and processing. Ensuring that water coming into contact [...]

Sarah Cahill of the Codex Secretariat has received the Ivan Parkin award at the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP) Annual Meeting taking place from 16-19 July 2023 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Her lecture entitled “Anatomy of a Standard” emphasized how clarity, engagement, science, impact and patience were key to developing useful and successful standards. The Ivan Parkin Lecture was established by IAFP in 1986 to honor individuals who have had a significant impact on the field of food safety. Each [...]

While the Executive Committee of the Codex Alimentarius Commission was taking place from 10-14 July 2023 in Geneva, the work of one of the expert bodies that provide scientific advice to Codex was in the news when the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) presented its comprehensive updated risk assessment of aspartame, an artificial sweetener, used in many products including diet soft drinks. The update reaffirmed the existing acceptable daily intake (ADI) level for aspartame of 0-40 mg/kg [...]

Dr Ailan Li, Assistant Director-General, WHO, opened the Executive Committee of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, taking place in Geneva, Switzerland from 10-14 July 2023, calling on governments to ensure that food meets safety standards to guarantee the basic human right of people to enjoy access to safe, nutritious and healthy food. Codex sets standards based on a rigorous and inclusive scientific process with the support of FAO and WHO. Li said: “Food standards save lives. When food standards are implemented, people [...]

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has named Dr Evelyne Mbandi as the new Chairperson of the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene (CCFH) following confirmation by the United States Senate of former CCFH Chairperson, Emilio Esteban, as USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety. As she takes on her new role, much of the CCFH work that Mbandi will be picking up will be revisions of texts that need updating, in particular a number of guidelines on the application of the [...]

Ministers and representatives of seven countries gathered in Seoul, Republic of Korea on 10-11 May 2023 to establish a ministerial level food regulators coalition in the Asia-Pacific region.  The Asia Pacific Food Regulatory Authority Summit (APFRAS) has been convened to address common challenges in the food sector such as food policy, emerging food technology and safe trade. Delegates attending first APFRAS session, Seoul 10-11 May 2023 Australia, China, New Zealand, Singapore, Philippines, Vietnam and the Republic of Korea reached consensus on the [...]

By John Oppong-Otoo, Food Safety Officer at AU-IBAR and Hakim Mufumbiro, Regional Coordinator CCAFRICA The Codex Africa Think tank comprised of 12 Member States (Cameroon, Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Senegal, Seychelles, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, The Gambia, Uganda and Zambia), Regional Economic Communities with observer status in Codex (Economic Community for West African States and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa) and representatives from the African Union met from 15 to 17 March 2023 in Mahe, Seychelles to reflect on the [...]

FAO has now issued a brochure that describes its work on food safety. Safe food for everyone – FAO’s work on food safety: science, standards and good practices is available in two formats (pdf and digital) and six languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish). “FAO’s food safety priorities highlights the importance of Codex Alimentarius for food safety at a global scale and emphasizes that indeed Food safety is everyone’s business,” said Angeliki Vlachou, FAO Food Safety Officer, in unveiling [...]

As delegates gather in Hong Kong for the 53rd session of the Codex Committee on Food Additives (CCFA53), which runs from 27-31 March 2023, Chairperson FAN Yongxiang, China, sat down with the Codex Secretariat to look ahead to the meeting. What will it be like returning to a physical meeting? I believe all delegates are keen to meet in person after three years of virtual discussion and the challenges of meeting across different time zones. We have to admit that physical meetings [...]

In Timor Leste a four-day mock Codex committee session has taken place this week as part of training to help the country’s Codex representatives understand how Codex works and how to participate effectively in Codex sessions. The training is supported by the World Health Organization (WHO) as part of the Timor Leste Codex Trust Fund (CTF) project. Timor Leste is the newest Member of the Codex Alimentarius Commission. The mock session saw the supposed 3rd session of the Codex Committee on [...]