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International PolicyStay abreast of international science, policy, and standards activities and join IFT in contributing to harmonization of food laws and regulations on a global level

Codex Alimentarius Commission
The Codex Alimentarius Commission is the international organization created by the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization and World Health Organization to develop food standards, guidelines and other texts under the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme to protect the health of consumers and ensure fair practices in food trade. As a nongovernment organization with observer status IFT participates in meetings of select Codex committees and task forces, represented by IFT Codex Subject Experts.

Codex Meeting Reports

• 35th Session of the Codex Committee on General Principles
• 44th Session of the Codex Committee on Food Additives (PDF)
• 36th Session of the Executive Committee of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (PDF), Agenda item 6(b): Matters arising from FAO and WHO (PDF)
  An informative summary highlighting recent FAO and WHO Codex-related activities
• 33rd Session of the Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses (PDF)
• 35th Session of the Codex Committee on Food Import and Export Inspection and Certification Systems (PDF)
• 34th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (PDF)
• Codex Alimentarius Commission Approves New Work Projects (Scarbrough, 2011)
  F. Edward Scarbrough, a former U.S. Manager for Codex, describes the new work that the Commission agreed on during its 2011 meeting and notes other ongoing activities. IFT members are encouraged to become involved in Codex, and contribute to IFT's input into Codex.

Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA)
JECFA is an international expert scientific committee administered jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). JECFA serves as an independent scientific committee which performs risk assessments on food additives, contaminants, naturally occurring toxicants and residues of veterinary drugs in food and provides advice for the Codex Alimentarius Commission and its specialist committees.

JECFA Meeting Report

• Summary Report of the 75th JECFA Meeting (PDF)

Joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultations
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO) convene expert consultations, the outcome of which is independent scientific expert advice to the Commission and its specialist committees and task forces.

• Report of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on the Risks and Benefits of Fish Consumption. Rome 25-19, 2010. FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Report No. 978. FIPM/R978(En) (PDF)

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
With the mandate of raising levels of nutrition, improving agricultural productivity, bettering the lives of rural populations, and contributing to the growth of the world economy, FAO serves as a knowledge network, shares policy expertise, provides a neutral meeting forum for nations, and brings technical knowledge to the field.

• The State of Food and Agriculture 2010 – 2011

World Health Organization
As the directing and coordinating authority for health within the United Nations, WHO provides leadership on global health matters, shapes the health research agenda, sets norms and standards, articulates evidence-based policy options, provides technical support to countries, and monitors and assesses health trends.

• IFT comments to WHO on draft guidelines on potassium and sodium intake for adults and children
• IFT comments to WHO on draft guidelines on saturated-fatty acid and trans-fatty acid consumption

European Food Safety Authority

The EFSA is a scientific risk assessment body of the European Union, providing scientific advice on food and feed safety, nutrition, animal health, plant protection, and plant health. Select reports are provided below.

• Scientific Opinion: Public health risks represented by certain composite products containing food of animal origin (PDF)
• Technical Report: Manual for Reporting on Zoonoses, Zoonotic Agents and Antimicrobial Resistance in the framework of Directive 2003/99/EC and of some other pathogenic microbiological agents for information derived from the year 2011 (PDF)
• Technical Report: Manual for reporting of food-borne outbreaks in accordance with Directive 2003/99/EC from the year 2011 (PDF)
• Scientific Opinion: Statement on the applicability of the Margin of Exposure approach for the safety assessment of impurities which are both genotoxic and carcinogenic in substances added to food/feed (PDF)
• Scientific Opinion: Statement on List of Representative Substances for Testing (PDF)
• Scientific Opinion: Guidance on the scientific requirements for health claims related to appetite ratings, weight management, and blood glucose concentrations (PDF)
• Technical Report: Outcome of a public consultation on the Draft Opinion of the EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA) on a draft guidance on the scientific requirements for health claims related to appetite ratings, weight management, and blood glucose concentrations (PDF)
• Work Plan 2012 (PDF)
• Scientific opinion on dietary reference values for protein (PDF)
• Guidance on risk assessment of food and feed from genetically modified animals and on animal health and welfare aspects
• Scientific Opinion on Norovirus (NoV) in oysters: methods, limits and control options
• Scientific Opinion: Statement on the ANSES reports on bisphenol A by the EFSA CEF Panel
• Scientific Opinion on the risk posed by Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) and other pathogenic bacteria in seeds and sprouted seeds
• Joint EFSA, FAO, and WHO guidance for a harmonised Total Diet Study approach to dietary exposure assessments
• Public consultation on draft new guidance for preparing food additive submissions/applications
• Scientific Opinion on the re-evaluation of butylated hydroxyanisole – BHA (E 320) as a food additive
• Scientific Report: Update on furan levels in food from monitoring years 2004-2010 and exposure assessment
• Guidance on the risk assessment of genetically modified microorganisms and their products intended for food and feed use
• Scientific Opinion on the public health risks of bacterial strains producing extended-spectrum β-lactamases and/or AmpC β-lactamases in food and food-producing animals
• Scientific Opinion: Guidance on the risk assessment of the application of nanoscience and nanotechnologies in the food and feed chain
• Statement summarizing the conclusions and recommendations from the opinions on the safety of irradiation of food adopted by the BIOHAZ and CEF panels
• Scientific Opinion: General guidance for stakeholders on the evaluation of Article 13.1, 13.5 and 14 health claims
• Guidance on the scientific requirements for health claims related to gut and immune function
• Scientific Opinion on the substantiation of health claims related to lycopene and protection of DNA, proteins and lipids from oxidative damage, protection of the skin from UV-induced (including photo-oxidative) damage, contribution to normal cardiac function, and maintenance of normal vision pursuant to Article 13(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006. Evaluation of further 442 "general function" health claims
• Scientific Opinion on Campylobacter in broiler meat production: control options and performance objectives and/or targets at different stages of the food chain
• Statement on the scientific evaluation of two studies related to the safety of artificial sweeteners
• Revised assessment of consumer exposure to steviol glycosides

Food Chemicals Codex
The FCC is a compendium of internationally recognized standards for the authenticity, purity and identity of food ingredients. The compendium features about 1,100 monographs, including food-grade chemicals, processing aids, foods, flavoring agents, vitamins, and functional food ingredients, as well as informational chapters to aid the analyst on topics such as adulteration, analytical methods and more. The FCC plays a key role in safeguarding commerce and public health by providing essential criteria and analytical methods to authenticate and determine the quality of food ingredients. FCC standards are beneficial to all players in the food industry as agreed standards between suppliers and manufacturers aid in distinguishing genuine products from inferior or adulterated ingredients and substances, thereby helping to make the food supply chain safer and assuring consumers of the quality of the food products they eat.

• Food Chemicals Codex Forum
• Food Additives News from Food Chemicals Codex (Ebert, 2011)
  Andrew Ebert, Chair of the FCC Food Ingredients Expert Committee, describes the FCC, which has the goal to "increase its value to consumers, food producers, and regulatory authorities worldwide," and several current issue-specific areas of activity.

International Organization for Standardization
ISO develops and publishes international standards relating to, in the food system, topics including food ingredients, food safety and quality, and nanotechnology through a network of national member standards institutes of 162 countries.

• Technical Committee 34: Food Products
• Technical Committee 229: Nanotechnologies
• Technical Committee 234: Fisheries and Aquaculture

Other Organizations
European Commission

• May 16, 2012-Food: Commission adopts landmark list of permitted health claims
• November 17, 2011-EC unveils five-year Action Plan to address antimicrobial resistance
• November 14, 2011-The EC issued new legislation establishing two new Union lists—additives approved for use in foodstuffs and additives approved for use in food ingredients—and authorizing the use of steviol glycosides in several food categories.
• October 18, 2011-The EC issued a recommendation on the definition of a nanomaterial: "a natural, incidental or manufactured material containing particles, in an unbound state or as an aggregate or as an agglomerate and where, for 50 % or more of the particles in the number size distribution, one or more external dimensions is in the size range 1 nm – 100 nm."

Food Standards Australia New Zealand

• IFT comments to FSANZ on P293 on Nutrition, Health, and Related Claims

French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety

• May 4, 2012-Growth factors in milk and dairy products: ANSES publishes its opinion on impact on the risk of developing cancer

U.K. Food Standards Agency

• May 10, 2012-Latest research published by the FSA
• February 1, 2012 – The UK Food Standards Agency published its Forward Evidence Plan for 2012: Notification of Future Activities and Invitation for Feedback. Comments are due Feb. 15.
• September 15, 2011-The UK Food Standards Agency published guidance to help food businesses remove from their products certain food colours associated with possible hyperactivity in young children. The document ("Guidelines on approaches to the replacement of Tartrazine, Allura Red, Ponceau 4R, Quinoline Yellow, Sunset Yellow and Carmoisine in food and beverages") is accessible at http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/publication/guidelinessotonsixcolours.pdf.