Codex Report (ALINORM 09/32/13), 1 - 5 December 2008

CODEX –Committee on Food Hygiene (40th Session), Guatemala City, Guatemala

The Fortieth Session of the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene reached the following conclusions:

MATTERS FOR ADOPTION BY THE 32 ND SESSION OF THE CODEX ALIMENTARIUS COMMISSION:

The Committee:

• agreed to forward Annex on the Microbiological Criteria for Powdered Follow-up Formulae and Formulae for Special medical Purposes to the Code of Hygienic Practice for Powdered Formulae for Infants and Young Children (CAC/RCP 66-2008) for adoption at Step 5/8 (see ALINORM 09/32/13 paras 45 - 47 and Appendix III);
• agreed to forward the Proposed Draft Microbiological Criteria for Listeria monocytogenes in Ready-to-Eat Foods for adoption at Step 5/8 (see ALINORM 09/32/13 para. 70 and Appendix II);

MATTERS FOR ACTION BY THE COMMISSION

The Committee:

• agreed to inform the Commission that it had considered the hygiene provisions in the light of the clarification provided by the 29th Session of the Codex Committee on Fish and Fishery Products to the questions on the hygiene provisions in the Standards for Raw and Live Bivalve Molluscs which had been adopted by the 31st Session of the Commission. The Committee noted that the CCFFP had addressed the concerns expressed by the 39th Session of the CCFH and that there was no need for further discussions on the Section of Hygiene in the above standard. The Committee agreed to inform the 32nd Session of the Commission of this decision (ALINORM 09/32/13, para. 14);

NEW WORK

• agreed to take up new work on the proposed Draft Code of Hygienic Practice for Control of Viruses in Food (see ALINORM 09/32/13, para. 139 and Appendix V).

MATTERS OF INTEREST TO THE COMMISSION AND/OR TO FAO/WHO

• The 30th Session of the Commission, while approving new work on the Proposed Draft Guidelines for the Control of Campylobacter and Salmonella spp. for Broiler Chicken (ALINORM 07/30/REP, paras 110-112), agreed to the recommendation of the Executive Committee (ALINORM 07/30/3 paras 43-45) that the scope of the new work be expanded to cover chicken meat in general, thereby deleting reference to “broiler (young bird)” in the title. The 39th Session of the CCFH, following the decision of the Commission, re-scoped the Proposed Draft Guidelines, however the 40th Session of the CCFH, recognizing the lack of data in several areas such as for birds other than broilers, free-range and organic production systems agreed that the work should initially focus on broilers and that annexes to address these additional issues be developed when more information becomes available and to inform the Commission about this decision (ALINORM 09/32/13, para. 76);
• The Committee agreed to request JEMRA to implement an expert meeting to facilitate elaboration of Proposed Draft Guidelines for the Control of Campylobacter and Salmonella spp. for Broiler Chicken with the Terms of Reference as outlined in para. 88 of this ALINORM.
• agreed to request JEMRA to develop the web-based risk management decision support tool as a basis for the Section on risk based controls to be developed within the Proposed Draft Guidelines for the Control of Campylobacter and Salmonella spp. for Broiler Chicken (ALINORM 09/32/13, para. 82);
• in response to the request of the 31st Session of the Commission to consider giving a higher priority to the revision of the Recommended International Code of Hygienic Practice for Collecting, Processing and Marketing of Natural Mineral Waters (CAC/RCP 33-1985), the Committee agreed to establish an electronic working group led by Switzerland, open to all interested parties and working in English only, to consider this matter in order to make a more informed decision on this matter at the next session (ALINORM 09/32/13, paras 142-143);
• agreed to the proposal to develop an annex on control measures for V. parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus in molluscan shellfish to the Proposed Draft Code of Hygienic Practice for Pathogenic Vibrio species in Seafood (ALINORM 09/32/13, para. 146).

MATTERS OF INTEREST TO OTHER COMMITTEES

Committee on Fish and Fishery Products

Endorsement of Hygiene Provisions in the Standard for Raw and Live Bivalve Molluscs

• The Committee considered the hygiene provisions in the light of the clarification provided by the 29 th Session of the Codex Committee on Fish and Fishery Products to the questions on the hygiene provisions in the Standards for Raw and Live Bivalve Molluscs posed by the 38th Session of the Committee. The Committee noted that the CCFFP had addressed the concerns expressed by the 39th Session of the CCFH and that there was no need for further discussions on the Section of Hygiene in the above standard. The Committee agreed to inform the 32nd Session of the Commission of this decision (ALINORM 09/32/13, para. 14).

Committee on General Principles

• Noting the decision of the CAC regarding Activity 2.1 of the Codex Strategic Plan 2008-2013 (Review of consistency of risk analysis principles elaborated by the relevant Codex Committees) (ALINORM 08/31/REP para. 133; CRD 6 (Referral from the 30th Session of the CCNFSDU)) and the decision of the previous session of CCFH on the work to elaborate a risk analysis policy document to guide CCFH work (ALINORM 08/31/13 para.162), the Committee encouraged the Delegation of India to proceed with this work in order to consider the above document at its next session (ALINORM 09/32/13, para. 15).