UN Body To Meet Over Food Safety

The 33rd Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, the UN Food Standards body, will meet in Rome between July 5 and July 9, to discuss food safety, a statement said.

More than 500 delegates from 130 countries are expected to attend the meeting, scheduled to deliberate on international measures to make food safer and ensure fair practices in the food trade, the statement issued by the UN agency in Rome on Friday said.

It said the meeting would take a decision on reducing the risk of contamination of food products through adulteration by melamine and aflatoxins.

Aflatoxins are fungal toxins and human carcinogens occurring in nuts and other products under certain conditions.

The statement said the Commission would deliberate on how governments could differentiate between unavoidable melamine occurrence and deliberate adulteration and set maximum levels for aflatoxins in Brazil nuts and adopt a code to prevent their contamination.

The statement also said the Commission would work on proposed hygiene measures to control pathogenic bacteria in seafood as well as a wide array of microbial pathogens, such as salmonella in fresh leafy vegetables and fresh/pre-cut/ready-to-eat pre-packaged salads.

The 47-year-old Commission is run jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Health Organisation (WHO).

It is the longest-standing example of inter-agency cooperation in the UN system and has 173 member-states.