With the 86th Session of the Executive Committee of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CCEXEC86) starting next week at FAO HQ, Rome, the Codex Secretariat sat down with the Chairperson, Steve Wearne (United Kingdom), to talk about the Committee, its current and future work and the status of the new Codex Strategic Plan. Steve, thanks for your time. Let’s start from the basics. Can you explain to our general audience, what is the role of CCEXEC? CCEXEC is a work management committee. It supports [...]

Throughout the month of June, risk ranking workshops have been taking place in Mongolia, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania and Viet Nam, under the One Health and Food Safety (1HFS) project, which is supported by the Republic of Korea. The workshops are the first part of a series of planned events in the four countries under the 1HFS project, which are designed to help address the complexities of our agrifood systems from a One Health approach. This requires the involvement [...]

ISDI – the International Special Dietary Foods Industries, a Codex Observer, is running a webinar on 10 July 2024, 12.00-13.00 CEST, entitled Understanding and implementing the new Codex standard for follow-up formula. Following opening remarks by Steve Wearne, Chairperson of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, the webinar will provide an overview of the new Standard, what it means for ‘formula for older infants’ (6-12 months) and ‘product for young children’ (12-36 months), and considerations for the implementation of the new Standard, including [...]

Sarah Cahill has been appointed as the new Secretary of the Codex Alimentarius Commission Before joining the Codex Secretariat in 2018, where she served as a Senior Food Standards Officer for six years, Sarah Cahill led the FAO Secretariat of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meetings on Microbiological Risk Assessment (JEMRA), responsible for overseeing the provision of scientific advice on microbiological hazards in a wide range of foods, from fresh produce to meat and fish. Her wide experience also comprises working on [...]

The Yemeni Organization for Standardization, Metrology and Quality Control celebrated the World Food Safety Day this year, under the theme of "Food Safety: Prepare for the Unexpected". This year's theme emphasizes the need to raise awareness about food safety-related incidents and the importance of being prepared for any eventualities concerning food safety and foodborne diseases. In his speech delivered on this occasion, the Director-General of the Organization, Engineer Hadid Al-Mas, emphasized that World Food Safety Day serves is an important platform [...]

In a live event on World Food Safety Day 2023, FAO launched a new website comprising a series of practical food safety management guidance documents based on the Codex Alimentarius General Principles of Food Hygiene. The website focuses on Good Hygiene Practices (GHP) and the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points system (HACCP) and is called: “FAO’s GHP and HACCP Toolbox for Food Safety”. The toolbox aims to give all those involved in food safety management in the food sector, be [...]

The Codex Committee on Pesticide Residues (CCPR) has concluded its 55th session in Chnegdu, P.R. China, with the Committee Chairperson, Dr Weili SHAN, expressing his “sincere thanks” to all the Chairs and co-Chairs of the working groups, and to all delegates for their work and support “to facilitate discussions and to prepare working documents promptly, and significant contribution to the Session”. Mr SHAN went on to say “The CCPR is the member’s committee as well as the observer’s committee. The [...]

On 6 June, the World Health Organization (WHO) hosted an AskWHO Live Q&A on the occasion of World Food Safety Day. The online audience from the WHO X, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube platforms was invited to ask questions on maintaining food safety during unexpected events such as power outages, flooding, or other food safety emergencies. During the live event, moderated by Yanawit Dechpanyawat, Social Media Officer at WHO, the three speakers, Jeffrey LeJeune, Food Safety Officer at FAO; Jéssica Kayamori Lopes, [...]

It’s 7 June! Happy World Food Safety day! This year we celebrate under the theme “food safety: prepare for the unexpected,” which coincides with the 20th anniversary of the FAO/WHO International Food Safety Authorities Network (INFOSAN). INFOSAN was established following the development and adoption of the Codex Principles and Guidelines for the Exchange of Information in Food Safety Emergency Situations (CXG 19-1995), which was the genesis of INFOSAN in terms of designation of emergency contact points at the national level. These [...]

In celebration of this year’s World Food Safety Day, Codex has published a “case study” showing how one country used Codex texts to resolve a food safety outbreak. In line with this year’s World Food Safety Day theme, “food safety: prepare for the unexpected,” the story recounts how Honduras worked with the FAO/WHO International Food Safety Authorities Network (INFOSAN) and food safety authorities in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to identify the source of an outbreak of [...]