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Food Hygiene
Codex Committee on Food Hygiene (Host Government-United States of America)
The Codex Committee on Food Hygiene (CCFH) drafts basic provisions on food hygiene for all foods. The term 'hygiene' also includes microbiological specifications for food and associated methodology.
Existing Codex Standards
Standards relating to food hygiene* that have been endorsed and adopted into the international food code include standards on:
- General Principles of Food Hygiene
* This is an indicative list only. For a full list of standards approved by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, please consult its Official List of Standards.
Outcomes from the 31st Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission
The 31st Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission adopted the Proposed Draft Guideline for the Validation of Food Safety Control Measures and the Annex II: Guidance on Microbiological Risk management Metrics to the Principles and Guidelines for the Conduct of Microbiological Risk Management at Step 5/8.
The Proposed Draft Code of Hygienic Practice for Powdered Formulae for Infants and Young Children (N10-2004) was also adopted at Step 5/8 with amendments.
The Commission also approved new work on the Proposed Draft Annex on Leafy Green Vegetables Including Leafy Herbs to the Code of Hygienic Practice for Fresh Fruit and Vegetables, the Proposed Draft Code of Hygienic Practice for Vibrio spp. in Seafood and the Risk Analysis Policy of the CCFH.
Last Meeting
The 39th Session of the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene was held in New Delhi, India, on 30 October - 4 November 2007.
At this meeting the committee:
- agreed to forward the Proposed Draft Code of Hygienic Practice for Powdered Formulae for Infants and Young Children to the Commission for adoption at Step 5/8,
- agreed to forward the Proposed Draft Guideline for the Validation of Food Safety Control Measures to the Commission for adoption at Step 5/8,
- agreed to forward the Proposed Draft Annex II: Guidance on Microbiological Risk Management Metrics (Annex to the Principles and Guidelines for the Conduct of Microbiological Risk Management) to the Commission for adoption at Step 5/8.
Matters for Action by the Commission
The Committee:
- agreed to inform the Commission that, as requested by its 30th Session with regard to the restriction of the use of the lactoperoxidase system in milk and milk products in international trade, the Committee had considered further new information, but could not reach consensus on the lifting of the restriction. However, the Committee noted the value of the system, particularly in developing countries and in those situations where technical, geographical, economical and/or practical reasons do not allow the use of refrigeration. Therefore, the Committee requested that the Commission should consider clarifying the statement regarding the restriction of the use of the LPS to explain that the restriction on the use of the LPS for milk in international trade in no way precluded the use of the system by countries at the national level.
- agreed to take up new work on commodity specific annexes for the Code of Hygienic Practice for Fresh Fruit and Vegetables and on a Code of Hygienic Practice for Vibrio spp. in seafood.
Discontinuation of Work
- noted that since the structure of the microbiological risk management metrics annex had substantially changed there was no longer any need to develop an annex on liquid eggs and therefore agreed to remove work on the Annex on Application of Food Safety Metrics in Risk Management Decision Making-Pasteurized Liquid Whole Eggs from its agenda.
The Committee also:
- noted that assignments given by the Commission in relation to the implementation of the Strategic Plan 2008–2013 such as the review and development of Codex standards and related texts for food safety was ongoing work,
- or the development of committee-specific decision-making and priority setting criteria had already been successfully completed and was used in practice by the CCFH and that Activity 2.2 Review of risk analysis principles would need to be completed by 2013,
- agreed to begin work on a risk analysis policy for CCFH,
- agreed to re-scope the Proposed Draft Guidelines for the Control of Campylobacter and Salmonella spp. in Chicken Meat to include all chicken meat, not only meat from broilers, but to continue work on broiler chicken meat as a priority and to address meat from birds other than broilers in a separate annex and requested scientific information from members of the Committee to assist the development of this annex,
- agreed to request FAO/WHO to collate and review available data and to convene an expert meeting to address a number of specific questions to enable a working group led by Canada to further develop Annex II to the Draft Code of Hygienic Practice for Powdered Formulae for Infants and Young Children. It was confirmed that FAO/WHO would prepare a Circular Letter requesting the data necessary to address the questions posed by the Committee.
Download the report from this meeting
Next Meeting
The 40th Session of the CCFH is scheduled to be held in Guatemala City, Guatemala, from 1-5 December 2008.
Download the agenda papers for this meeting