The General Standard for Food Additives (GSFA) describes the conditions under which food additives may be used in all foods. It is the biggest document in the Codex Alimentarius and is updated each time the Codex Alimentarius Commission adopts new maximum levels (MLs) for the use of relevant food additives.

Codex’s Food Standards Officer, Lingping Zhang, has this week distributed the update of the related GSFA database, an online tool that makes food additive MLs more accessible to Members. She has worked on this huge task together with colleagues Roberto Sciotti, Codex webmaster, and Dan Folmer from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the United States of America. They all wanted to highlight the importance of teamwork in updating the GSFA:

Lingping: I want to emphasize that updating the GSFA database is a team effort. Without Dan from the USA and our fantastic colleague, Roberto, we would not be able to accomplish it!

Roberto: As Lingping said, everybody has a critical role in the GSFA update process. Correctness of data is crucial and this task is covered by the incredible work of Dan and Lingping. Then there is the technical aspect to manage, migrate and publish the updated data, which is my role.

Dan: I would just say that the United States of America greatly appreciates the hard work of the Codex Secretariat in updating and publishing the revised GSFA after each Codex Alimentarius Commission meeting. It is a lot of work, and definitely a team effort. As more and more countries across the world adopt the GSFA as the guidance for their food additive regulations, a complete and up-to-date GSFA becomes even more important.

Without an updated GSFA, it seems impossible for CCFA to proceed with its tasks

We asked Lingping and Roberto to tell us a bit more about the work involved in updating the GSFA database.

How important is the GSFA?
Lingping: The GSFA is a critical product of the Codex Committee on Food Additives (CCFA), covering the permissible use of food additives and their maximum use levels in various products across three tables, currently totalling 535 pages. If you review CCFA's agenda, you'll find we have  discussions on FAO/WHO Joint Expert Committee for Food Additives (JECFA) evaluations, International Numbering System (INS) numbers, alignment, and JECFA priority lists — all these are aimed at updating the GSFA. Timely publication of an updated GSFA is essential for CCFA to carry out its work. In other words, without an updated GSFA, it seems impossible for CCFA to  proceed with its tasks!

Roberto: The GSFA is absolutely important for Codex, as are the other databases on Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) for pesticides and for veterinary drugs, because the data contained are reference points for Codex Members. They have an impact on food production and trade. MLs and MRLs are the outcome of scientific studies, meetings and discussion between experts, so they should be correctly managed. GSFA is a huge database in terms of records and tables, which have complex interrelationships.

What does the update entail?
Lingping: Updating the GSFA is a meticulous and technical task. We have drafted a guidance document outlining 16 steps for updating the GSFA database, each of which is time consuming. For example, CCFA53 agreed that "acidity regulators in Table three can be used in Chilli Sauce." This is only one sentence - and it looks simple. But, to reflect this sentence in the GSFA,  we must establish an entry for chilli sauce, identify all table three food additives with the function of acidity regulators, create a table to cross-reference their additive ID numbers, and then insert the new entry for chili sauce into the database. This is just one example, and such tasks require intense concentration. Last year's CCFA report alone spanned 259 pages. You can see the substantial workload involved.

Roberto: Once the meticulous task of updating data is done by Lingping, I receive the database to start the migration of data. The migration process is not a one-click operation but consists of several steps and involves different frameworks, for security reasons. Sometimes there are new requirements or requests for changes that require interventions on each of our systems. The last modification, for example, allowed us to reduce the size of the database reports, showing another table header by handling data in a different way.

Roberto Sciotti updates the GSFA database

What challenges do you have to overcome?
Lingping: Due to the complexity of updating the database and the necessity for uninterrupted focus, I mainly conduct this task at home. My family, understanding the importance of my work, remains quiet and supportive when I do this. My husband and my son said that when I was working on the database, I looked very serious and they became scared and they reduced the volume of their breathing!

I must highlight Dan's crucial role in not only updating the "allowance table," which forms the soul of the GSFA but also in conducting a final quality check. Roberto, who I call the "database doctor" and "problem solver," is always available and has to constantly assist in solving all the problems we faced. For example, it happens that INS numbers cannot appear during table production, then Roberto needs to diagnose the disease and provide appropriate treatment. He often works late into the night to solve all these terrible and unexpected problems! Yesterday, we noted that the provision for BETA-CAROTENES in the online version of the GSFA could not be displayed correctly. Once again, Roberto has to investigate and resolve this inexplicable issue!

Roberto: It happens that to solve technical problems a debug or a reverse engineering approach is needed. Sometimes new cases could emerge after CCFA decisions, that should then be reflected and translated into data and logic conditions in the code. That’s the case for example of the new provisions for RIBOFLAVINS, presenting a new situation. So, in this case, we needed to change the logic condition in the source code to correctly show data and to allow similar cases in the future.

Are there any changes you’d like to see to the database in the future?
Lingping: Looking to the future, I remain hopeful that advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) technology will simplify the updating process. Perhaps one day, uploading the CCFA report will automatically update the GSFA database!

Roberto: While we wait for AI, I expect that data migration in future will be much simpler in the new platform Codex is developing. We are working to reduce this process, to increase data security and to facilitate data entry and its management in general.

I have been kindly invited to participate at CCFA54 where I will have a side event on the GSFA database where I will show more on what is behind it and what is next.

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Consult the GSFA database
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