Understanding The Codex Alimentarius

The Codex Alimentarius is a collection of international food standards that have been adopted by the Codex Alimentarius Commission. Such standards cover all the main foods and also material used in the further processing of food. Codex provisions concern the hygienic and nutritional; quality of food, including microbiological norms, food additives, pesticides and veterinary drug residues, contaminants, labelling and presentation, and methods of sampling and risk analysis. The Codex Alimentarius can safely claim to be the most important international reference point in matters concerning food quality. Its creation, moreover, has generated food-related scientific research and greatly increase the world community’s awareness of the vital issues at stake food quality, safety and public health.

Understanding Codex, now in its 5th edition, is a useful tool to introduce the Codex Alimentarius and its collection of international food standards to the public. The Codex Alimentarius is a collection of international food standards adopted by the Codex Alimentarius Commission that cover all the main foods as well as material used in the further processing of food. Codex provisions concern the hygienic and nutritional quality of food, including microbiological norms, food additives, pesticides and veterinary drug residues, contaminants, labelling and presentation, and methods of sampling and risk analysis. The Codex Alimentarius can safely claim to be the most important international reference point in matters concerning food quality. It plays an important role for food-related scientific research and in increasing awareness of the vital issues at stake regarding food quality, safety and public health.

The Codex Alimentarius (meaning food law or code) is a collection of internationally adopted food standards designed to protect consumer health and ensure fair practices in the food trade. This is the second edition of this publication which contains texts relating to inspection and certification schemes in the worldwide trade in food and foodstuffs, adopted by the Codex Alimentarius Commission up to 2004.

The Codex Alimentarius presents adopted international food standards in a uniform manner. The full set, when complete, will comprise 14 volumes. Of these, nine will present standards and codes of practices compiled on a commodity-by-commodity basis, and two will deal with residues of pesticides and veterinary drugs in foods. Other volumes will contain information on acceptances of standards, as well as methods of analysis and sampling. Print editions are available in English, French, and Spanish. The title is also available as a tri-lingual CD-ROM.

The joint FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission is the UN body responsible for establishing international food standards aimed at protecting the health of consumers and ensuring fair practices in the food trade. This publication contains the overarching principles on the risk analysis of foods derived from modern biotechnology and guidelines for food safety assessment of foods derived from recombinant-DNA plants or produced using recombinant-DNA micro-organisms, as adopted by the Commission at its 26th session, held in 2003.

This publication showcases the steps the Codex Alimentarius has taken from 2016 to 2017 to ensure safe and quality food for all. Over the year, the committees prepared updates to international food standards, guidelines and codes of practice, with the Codex Alimentarius Commission acting as the final decision-making body.