Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses
Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses (Host Government - Germany)
The Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses (CCNFSDU) studies nutritional issues referred by the Codex Alimentarius Commission. It also develops guidelines, general principles and standards for food including food with special dietary uses.Existing Codex Standards
Standards relating to nutrition and foods for special dietary uses* that have been endorsed and adopted into the international food code:- Canned Baby Foods
- Formula Foods for Use in Weight Control Diets
- Formula Foods for Use in Very Low Energy Diets for Weight Reduction
- Formulated Supplementary Foods for Older Infants and Young Children
- General Principles for the Addition of Essential Nutrients to Foods
- Guidelines on Vitamin and Mineral Food Supplements
- Infant Formula
- Labelling of and Claims for Prepackaged Foods for Special Dietary Use
- Labelling of and Claims for Foods for Special Medical Purposes
- Nutrition Labelling
- Processed Cereal-Based Foods for Infants and Children
- Use of Nutrition 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 32nd Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission
The 32nd Commission adopted at Step 8, the:
- Table of Conditions for Nutrient Contents (Part B: Provisions on Dietary Fibre) to the Guidelines for Use of Nutrition and Health Claims (CAC/GL 23-1997)
- Provisions on Gum Arabic (Gum acacia) (Section D: Advisory List of Food Additives for Special Nutrient Forms) to the Advisory Lists of Nutrient compounds for Use in Foods for Special Dietary Uses Intended for Infants and Young Children (CAC/Gl 10-1997)
- Draft Nutritional Risk Analysis Principles and Guidelines for Application to the Work of the Committee on Nutrition and Foods for the Special Dietary Uses.
And at Step 5/8, the:
- Proposed Draft Recommendations on the Scientific Basis of Health Claims (Annex to the Guidelines for Use of Nutrition and Health Claims – CAC/GL 23-1997.
Last Meeting
The 31st Session of the Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses (CCNFSDU) was held in Germany from 2-6 November 2009.
At this meeting the Committee agreed to forward to the 33rd Session of the Commission for adoption:
- List of Methods for Dietary Fibre at Step 8
- The General Principles for establishing Nutrient Reference Values of Vitamins and Minerals for General Population at Step 5.
Matters of Interest to the 33rd Session of the Commission
The 31st CCNFSDU also agreed to ask the Commission to approve new work on:
- the revision of the Codex General Principles for the Addition of Essential Nutrients to Foods (CAC/GL 9-1987)
- the revision of the Codex Guidelines on Formulated Supplementary Foods for Older Infants and Young Children.
Matters Referred to Other Committees
Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling (CCMAS)
The CCNFSDU clarified on the reference to calories and the calculation of energy from disaccharides and agreed to retain the AOAC and CEN microbioassay methods on determination of Vitamin B6.
Codex Committee on Food Labelling (CCFL)
- The Committee agreed to refer the discussion of Inclusion of saturated fat and sodium in relation to nutrient reference value for nutrients associated with risk of non communicable disease as presented in paragraphs 149-152
- The Committee concluded that there was no clear agreement for claims for added sugars and trans-fatty acids at this stage and agreed to request CCFL to provide additional information on the types of claims once the CCFL has identified the claims for which conditions should be established
- The Committee agreed to postpone considering the need for Development of principles for countries to evaluate criterion 1 until after CCNFSDU has established related principles in their proposed new work on NRVs-NCD
- The Committee agreed to recommend the CCFL to establish a definition for NRVs and agreed to forward to the CCFL the proposed definition for NRVs for consideration.
Next Meeting
The 32nd Session of the Committee has been scheduled to be held in Chile from 1-5 November 2010.