Work on food hygiene, allergens and support of food trade in Africa have been adopted by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, which recently met online for the first time in its history.
Codex Alimentarius is the food standards setting body of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization.
Proposed guidelines will cover general principles of food and feed law, risk analysis, farm-to-fork food safety management, public consultation and information, obligations of food trade, imports and exports guidelines and principles, responsibilities of food and feed businesses and authorities, traceability, recall, packaging and labelling.
Allergen and hygiene documents approvedThe code of practice on food allergen management for businesses was adopted during the meeting.
The document supports a proactive approach to managing allergens in food production, rather than a reactive response once a food safety hazard has been identified.
It covers the supply chain including primary production, during manufacturing, and at retail and food service.
Officials also agreed on a revised general principles of food hygiene document and its Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point annex.
“We are pleased to see that food safety is starting to get more attention at the highest political levels. The UN Secretary-General has announced the convening of the UN Food Systems Summit, to be held later next year. WHO is looking forward to working with partners to ensure that a health lens is used in the preparations for the summit,” he said.
“It calls for greater investment in Codex Alimentarius. The resolution also requests an update to the WHO global strategy for food safety, in coordination with FAO and in consultation with member states and OIE, for possible adoption at the World Health Assembly in 2022. A technical advisory group is being established to advise WHO on the update of the global strategy and a series of consultations is planned in the coming year with all relevant stakeholders,” he said.
Water reuse and regional standardsEfforts will start on guidelines for the safe sourcing, use and reuse of water in food production that comes into direct or indirect contact with food throughout the chain.