Page Content
Food Labelling
Codex Committee on Food Labelling (Host Government - Canada)
The CCFL drafts provisions on labelling of foods and endorses draft provisions on labelling. It also studies labelling issues assigned to it by the Codex Alimentarius Commission and it studies issues related to food advertising including claims and misleading descriptions.Existing Codex Standards
Standards relating to food labelling* that have been endorsed and adopted into the international food code include standards on:- Use of the Term Halal
- General Standard for the Labelling of Food Additives when sold as such
- Labelling of and Claims for Pre-packaged Foods for Special Dietary Use
- Labelling of and Claims for Foods for Special Medical Purposes
- Production, Processing, Labelling and Marketing of Organically Produced Foods
- Packing Media (Composition and Labelling)
- Guidelines for the Use of Nutrition and Health Claims
*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:
- Draft Amendment to the Guidelines for Organically Produced Foods (Ethylene for kiwifruit and bananas) (Para. 68 Appendix II)
- Draft Amendment to the General Standard (Quantitative Declaration of Ingredients) (Para. 95 Appendix IV), and
- Draft Definition of Advertising in relation to health and nutrition claims (Para. 107 Appendix V) at Step 8.
The Commission also discontinued work on the Amendment to the Guidelines for the Production, Processing, Labelling and Marketing of Organically Produced Foods: Annex 2 : Permitted Substances Table 3 (Para. 61).
Last Meeting
This committee met for its 36th Session in Ottawa, Canada, from 28 April – 2 May 2008. At this meeting the Committee:
- advanced to Step 8 the Draft Amendment to the Guidelines for the Production, Processing, Labelling and Marketing of Organically Produced Foods: Annex 1 (inclusion of ethylene for kiwifruits and bananas)
- advanced to Step 8 the Draft Amendment to the General Standard for the Labelling of Pre-packaged Foods: Quantitative Declaration of Ingredients
- advanced to Step 8 the Draft Definition of Advertising in Relation to Nutrition and Health Claims (Draft Amendment to the Guidelines for Use of Nutrition and Health Claims)
- agreed to discontinue work on the Draft Amendment to the Guidelines for the Production, Processing, Labelling and Marketing of Organically Produced Foods: Annex 2 – Permitted Substances: Table 3, and
- agreed to undertake new work on an amendment to the Guidelines for the Production, Processing, Labelling and Marketing of Organically Produced Foods (rotenone) (para. 74, Appendix VIII) and on the revision of the Guidelines on Nutrition Labelling (implementation of the Global Strategy for Diet, Physical Activity and Health).
The Committee also:
- endorsed the labelling provisions in several Draft Standards, thereby allowing their adoption by the Commission
- returned to Step 6 the Draft Amendment to the Guidelines for the Production, Processing, Labelling and Marketing of Organically Produced Foods: Annex 1 (inclusion of ethylene for other products), and
- retained at Step 7 the Draft Amendment to the General Standard for the Labelling of Pre-packaged Foods (Draft Recommendations for the Labelling of Foods Obtained through Certain Techniques of Genetic Modification/Genetic Engineering): Definitions (para. 92, Appendix VI) and returned to Step 3 the Proposed Draft Recommendations for the Labelling of Food and Food Ingredients Obtained through Certain Techniques of Genetic Modification/Genetic Engineering.
Download the report from this meeting
Next Meeting
The 37th Session of the Codex Committee on Food Labelling has been scheduled to be held in Calgary, Canada, from 4 – 8 May 2009.
Download the agenda papers for this meeting