Congressional and Public Affairs
Sarah Tarshis (202) 720-9113

WASHINGTON, July 10, 2003— The Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), today announced a Sept. 16 public meeting to provide information and receive public comments on agenda items for the Codex Alimentarius Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses (CCNFSDU), which will be held Nov. 3-7 in Bonn, Germany.

The public meeting will be held from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 16, in the Auditorium (1A003), Food and Drug Administration, Harvey Wiley Federal Building, 5100 Paint Branch Parkway, College Park, MD. The meeting will be co-sponsored by the USDA’s Office of the Under Secretary for Food Safety and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Agenda items to be discussed at the public meeting include a proposed draft recommendation for the scientific basis of health claims; proposed draft guidelines for vitamin and mineral supplements; proposed revised draft standards for infant formula and processed cereal-based foods for infants and young children; and the application of risk analysis to the work of CCNFSDU.

Codex was created in 1963 by two United Nations organizations, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization. Codex develops food standards, guidelines and codes of practice in order to protect the health of consumers, ensure fair food trade practices and promote coordination of food standards work undertaken by international governmental and non-governmental organizations.

In the U.S., USDA, FDA, and the Environmental Protection Agency manage and carry out U.S. Codex activities.

The CCNFSDU studies specific nutritional problems assigned to it by the Codex Commission and advises the Commission on general nutritional issues, drafts general provisions concerning the nutritional aspects of all foods and develops standards, guidelines or related texts for foods with special dietary uses.

To submit comments or to receive copies of documents on the agenda, contact the FSIS Docket Room, Docket #03-024N, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service, Room 102, Cotton Annex, 300 12^th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20250-3700. The documents are also available electronically at http://www.codexalimentarius.net/current.asp.

Persons requiring a sign language interpreter or other special accommodations should notify Ellen Matten at (202) 205-7760 or fax (202) 720-3157.

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For Further Information, Contact:
FSIS Congressional and Public Affairs Staff
Phone: (202) 720-9113
Fax: (202) 690-0460

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