The core food model was described more than three decades ago, and has been used ever since to identify main food contributors to dietary intakes for both nutrients and other food chemicals. The Sub-Saharan Africa Total Diet Study (SSA-TDS) uses this model to describe the food consumption habits of some selected populations of Benin, Cameroon, Mali, and Nigeria, prior to use in the completion of quantitative risk assessments with regard to food chemicals. Food consumption data were derived from food expenditure data contained in national household budget surveys that were provided by the national institutes of statistics in each country. A classification of African foods was established for the purpose of the study and core foods were selected, so as...

A meeting of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) was held in Rome, Italy from  6 to 15 June 2017. The purpose of the meeting was to evaluate certain food additives (including flavouring agents).

A meeting of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) was held in Geneva, Switzerland, from 17 to 26 October 2017. The purpose of the meeting was to evaluate residues of certain veterinary drugs in food.

This publication explains how international food safety standards are set through the Joint Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and World Health Organization (FAO/WHO) Food Standards Programme – the Codex Alimentarius Commission – and how these standards are applied in the context of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreements on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement) and on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement).Through the FAO/WHO C odex Alimentarius, members establish science-based, internationally agreed food standards. The publication describes the two organizations, how they operate together, and how countries can and should engage to keep international food standards up to date and relevant, and to resolve trade issues. The publication also highlights the need to invest...

The purpose of this Codex Diagnostic Tool is to provide a framework for countries to carry out a self-assessment of the current status of the national Codex programme. The Tool outlines the main elements, sub-elements, and best practices that need to be in place in any national Codex programme and through the process of self-assessment, countries can assess the collective capacity of the programme made up of individuals, processes and institutions. This includes assessing the capacity to effectively plan and participate in Codex sessions, to contribute scientific and technical input, to use Codex texts as a basis for national regulation and standards, as appropriate, and to ensure Codex-related activities and management of the programme are integral parts of the food...

This framework document describes the principles, practices and procedures currently applied by FAO and WHO for the provision of scientific advice through the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives, the Joint FAO/WHO Meetings on Pesticide Residues, the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meetings on Microbiological Risk Assessment, the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meetings on Pesticide Specifications, the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meeting on Nutrition and ad hoc expert consultations and meetings organized in response to specific ad hoc requests or emergency situations. It has been prepared to enhance the transparency of the processes and procedures used by FAO and WHO to deliver scientific advice in food safety and nutrition. The framework continues to be reviewed periodically and amended as appropriate, to take account...

This volume of FAO JECFA Monographs contains specifications of identity and purity prepared at the 84th meeting of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), held in Rome, Italy, 6–15 June 2017 . The specifications monographs are one of the outputs of JECFA’s risk assessment of food additives, and should be read in conjunction with the safety evaluation, reference to which is made in the section at the head of each specifications monograph. Further information on the meeting discussions can be found in the summary report of the meeting and in the full report which will be published in the WHO Technical Report series. Toxicological monographs of the substances considered at the meeting will be published in the...