New international standards, codes of practice and guidelines

The Codex Alimentarius Commission has adopted new standards and projects to improve global food safety.

Listeria monocytogenes in ready-to-eat foods

The commission adopted parameters for microbiological testing and environmental monitoring for Listeria monocytogenes in ready-to-eat foods. A maximum level was set for certain foods where the bacteria cannot grow, while in ready-to-eat products where growth is possible, no Listeria monocytogenes will be allowed. The parameters will help producers control and prevent contamination of ready-to-eat foods with this bacterium that can result in listeriosis, a potentially fatal disease. While healthy people rarely contract listeriosis, it can cause miscarriages and stillbirths, as well as serious and sometimes fatal infections in those with weakened immune systems, such as infants, the elderly and persons with HIV infection or undergoing chemotherapy.

Reduction of acrylamide in foods

The commission approved measures for reducing the formation of acrylamide in foods. The code of practice will provide national and local authorities, manufacturers and others with guidance to prevent and reduce formation of acrylamide in potato products during all phases of the production process. The guidance includes strategies for raw materials, the addition of other ingredients, and food processing and heating. The chemical acrylamide, first identified in food in 2002, is produced during frying, roasting and baking of carbohydrate-rich foods, such as French fries, potato crisps, coffee, biscuits, pastries and breads. Acrylamide is considered a possible human carcinogen.

Reduction of contamination with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

The commission adopted the first guidelines for reducing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) intake through final food preparation. Because smoking and direct drying processes are used both in industry and in private households, the guidance can also form the basis of consumer education programs. Parts of PAH are possible human carcinogens formed during the combustion of fuel both in the smoking and in the direct drying processes involved in the preparation of foods.

Prevention of ochratoxin A contamination in coffee

The commission adopted guidance to enable coffee-producing countries to develop and implement their own national programs for the prevention and reduction of ochratoxin A (OTA) contamination. OTA is a fungal toxin also considered a possible human carcinogen.

Powdered follow-up formulae

The commission adopted criteria for salmonella and other bacteria in powdered follow-up formulae for children six months of age or older and for special medical purposes for young children. A bacterium of special concern is E. sakazakii, for which Codex adopted specific criteria for powdered formula for infants (0 to 6 months) in 2008. The commission decided that in countries with particular risk for E. Sakazakii from consumption of follow-up formulae (ie, countries with substantial populations of immunocompromised babies), similar criteria for E. sakazaki could be introduced for follow-up formula as for powdered formula for infants.

Regional standards

The commission also adopted regional standards for ginseng products, fermented soybean paste and gochujang.

New work projects

The commission also launched new work projects, among them establishing maximum levels for melamine in food and feed. In the last few years, high levels of melamine have been added illegally to food and feed products, causing illness and death. Because it has many industrial uses, melamine may be found in trace amounts in the food chain due to its presence in the environment. Setting maximum limits will help governments differentiate between unavoidable melamine occurrence and the deliberate adulteration of food and feed.

Other new work proposals adopted by the Commission

Principles and guidelines to assist governments in the development and operation of comprehensive national food control systems that protect the health of consumers and ensure fair practices in the food trade:

• Practices to control viruses in food, especially norovirues and hepatitis A in fresh produce, mulluscan shell fish and ready-to-eat foods.
• Prevention of aflatoxin (toxic substances produced by moulds and known to cause cancer in animals) contamination of Brazil nuts.
• Setting maximum levels and defining sampling plans for fumonisins (toxic substances produced by fungi) in maize and maize products.