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Committee Meetings

The Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses concluded its meeting in Bad Soden am Taunus, Germany, on November 18.

One document was sent to the Commission for approval at Step 5/8: daily intake Nutrient Reference Values (NRVs) for labeling purposes for two nutrients associated with risk of diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs): 20 grams of saturated fatty acids and 2000 mg of sodium. These NRVs-NCD are primarily based on FAO/WHO expert consultation assessments and would be the first global NRVs aimed at reducing the risk of NCDs for the general population.

The Committee also succeeded in removing brackets from all text in a General Principles draft document for NRV-NCDs, except for a section that describes options for considering the suitability of "probable" evidence, in addition to "convincing" evidence, as the scientific basis for establishing Codex NRV-NCDs. The World Health Organization has changed its methods for evaluating scientific evidence and developed new terms to replace "probable" and "convincing" evidence, so the Committee will re-consider at a subsequent session how to characterize levels of scientific evidence for the establishment of NRVs-NCD.

The Committee also approved at Step 5 the proposed draft revision of the Guidelines on Formulated Complementary Foods for Older Infants and Young Children.

Three electronic working groups will be continued. The United States, Thailand and Chile will lead the eWG on NRVs-NCD to consider, among other things, the remaining text in brackets on the general principles to establish NRVs-NCD, and the potential consolidation of the two Annexes to the Guidelines on Nutrition Labeling on general principles for vitamin and mineral NRVs and NRVs-NCD. The need for one or more additional NRVs-NCD for other nutrients with a convincing l evel of evidence will also be considered. Canada and New Zealand will lead the eWG on revising the General Principles for the Addition of Essential Nutrients to Foods (CAC/GL-9-1987). India will lead the eWG on amending the Standard for Processed Cereal-Based Foods for Infants and Young Children (Codex STAN 74-1981) to include a new part on underweight children.

In addition, Australia will lead an eWG to recommend updated or additional NRVs for vitamins and minerals for the general population for inclusion in the Guidelines on Nutrition Labeling.

The Committee did not have sufficient time to discuss New Zealand's proposal to undertake new work to revise the Standard for Follow-Up Formula (STAN 156-1987), and postponed until the next session a decision on whether to undertake new work, including consideration of a full or limited revision of the existing standard. A WHO representative noted work underway in WHO concerning follow-up formula that may be relevant to this work.

A more detailed report by the U.S. Delegate will be published soon at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/international-affairs/us-codex-alimentarius. The Codex Secretariat will publish the formal report of this session at www.codexalimentarius.org.

New Electronic Working Groups (eWG)

Codex Committee on Fats and Oils 
Colombia will chair a new eWG, working in English, to revise the Standard for Named Vegetable Oils, to include palm oil with high oleic acid. Individuals in the United States interested in contributing to the eWG should send their name, official title, and email address to the U.S. Codex Office (USCodex@fsis.usda.gov). Codex Members and Observers interested in participating in the eWG should provide the names, official positions, institutions and email addresses of their representatives to: bolarte@minproteccionsocial.gov.co; cmorenob@minproteccionsocial.gov.co; and getpalmoil@gmail.com. The deadline for registration is November 30.

Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling (CCMAS) 
The United Kingdom and Germany will chair a new eWG, working in English, on the use of proprietary methods of analysis in Codex standards. The eWG will define the term "proprietary method" and prepare a draft version of the criteria to be included in the Codex Procedural Manual. The goal is for the proposed document to be ready for circulation as a discussion paper for the March 2012 Session of CCMAS. Individuals in the United States interested in contributing to the eWG should send their name, official title, and email address to the U.S. Codex Office (USCodex@fsis.usda.gov). Codex Members and Observers interested in participating in the eWG should provide the names, official positions, institutions and email addresses of their representatives to: Dr Andrew Damant (andrew.damant@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk), Dr. Gerd Fricke (gerd.fricke@bvl.bund.de) and Dr. Roger Wood (roger.shirley@btinternet.com). The deadline for registration is November 30.

The United Kingdom will chair a new eWG, working in English, which will consider the use of decision trees to aid the selection of appropriate methods of analysis for dietary fiber. The goal is for the proposed document to be ready for circulation as a discussion paper for the March 2012 Session of CCMAS. Individuals in the United States interested in contributing to the eWG should send their name, official title, and email address to the U.S. Codex Office (USCodex@fsis.usda.gov). Codex Members and Observers interested in participating in the eWG should provide the names, official positions, institutions and email addresses of their representatives to: Dr Andrew Damant (andrew.damant@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk) and Dr. Roger Wood (roger.shirley@btinternet.com). The deadline for registration is November 30.