In the week that WHO urges action to increase physical activity levels in girls and boys aged 11 to 17 years and reports that more than 80% of school-going adolescents globally do not meet current recommendations of at least one hour of physical activity per day, it is timely that the Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses (CCNFSDU) is meeting from 24 to 29 November in Duesseldorf, Germany. Purwiyatno Hariyadi, Indonesia, Vice-chairperson of the Codex Alimentarius Commission [...]

Mabel Aworh from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Nigeria reports on a week of action. The official 'Nigeria Antibiotic Guardian Pledge' was launched at a high-level event by Senate Committee Chair on Health, Dr. Ibrahim Oloriegbe and Chair on Agriculture and Productivity, ‪Abdullahi Adamu. Speaking to the Daily Trust website, Oloriegbe committed to raising awareness among Nigerians on the dangers of using human and veterinary antibiotics indiscriminately and promised to communicate in mass-messaging to educate Nigerians. “The media [...]

With new staff constantly rotating through the 189 Codex Contact Points (CCPs) around the globe, bringing a national Codex team’s skill set up to date is an essential part of a CCP’s duties if comments on Codex texts by national experts are to be submitted online and on time. The Codex Secretariat recently delivered a webinar training on electronic working groups (EWGs) and the online commenting system (OCS), catching the Australian team early in the morning just as in Codex HQ [...]

World Antimicrobial Awareness Week runs from 18 to 22 November 2019, and is an annual, global event through which FAO, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and WHO raise awareness about antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as a serious health and livelihoods issue. The three organizations encourage stakeholders to treat antibiotics and other antimicrobials as a precious resource to be used prudently and responsibly. Food plays an important role in the development and spread of AMR. The presence of AMR microorganisms in [...]

FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu met today with Guilherme da Costa, Chairperson of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, together with three Vice Chairpersons – Mariam Eid from Lebanon, Purwiyatno Hariyadi from Indonesia and Steve Wearne from the United Kingdom. FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu (right) with Guilherme da Costa, Chairperson of the Codex Alimentarius Commission   Guilherme da Costa said: "The Director-General expressed strong support for the work of Codex and for the importance of science-based international food standards."   Codex activities should be more visible, tangible and [...]

In welcoming delegates to the opening of the 10th session of the FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for the Near East, H.E. Mohammad Hossein Emadi, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to FAO and the Rome Based Agencies, said ensuring food safety was a sophisticated task considering the challenges brought by globalization and international food trade, increased demand for safer and better quality of food, as well as threats that arise from new and intensification technologies of food [...]

Delegates from 17 countries will gather at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy for the 10th session of the FAO/WHO Coordinating Committee for the Near East (CCNE) from 11 to 15 November 2019. Mrs Nayereh Sadat Piroozbakht, President of the Institute of Standards and Industrial Research of Iran, and the current Regional Coordinator, said the committee should “take into consideration the development of standards related to safety and integrity and authenticity of foods for all countries as a priority”.  CCNE should promote [...]

Understanding Codex for a member country or observer organization also means being able to use the online systems that manage the standard setting process. If you are unable to take part in electronic working groups or post your national position via comments online then your voice will not be heard, and you will not learn the views of others. The Codex Secretariat has held training sessions in different regions and regularly showcases Codex online tools at the Commission and during [...]

Jenny Scott is Senior Advisor in the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. She co-chaired the working group on the proposed draft code of practice on food allergen management for food business operators. Jenny explains the importance of the work on allergens. Jenny Scott co-chaired the Codex work on allergens with Australia and the UK  “Food allergies are an increasing food safety issue globally, resulting in many food recalls (approximately 1/3 of food recalls [...]

Dr. Mindy Brashears, the Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C. addressed delegates gathered in Cleveland, Ohio, USA for the 51st session of the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene. Brashears emphasized in her welcome address that with food safety policies being constantly updated, such meetings were important “to help foster partnerships that can lead to modernization and new policies for food safety and international food standards”. Dr. Mindy Brashears, Deputy Under Secretary for Food [...]