A CLOSER LOOK AT CODEX ALIMENTARIUS
This article was compiled by Jodi Phillips November 2014, for the Institute of Black Academics
concerning Black Under achievement.
PUBLISHED 09 NOVEMBER 2014 04:26
From the very beginning, the Codex Alimentarius has been a science-based activity.
Experts and specialists in a wide range of disciplines have contributed to every aspect of the code to ensure that its standards withstand the most rigorous scientific scrutiny. It is fair to say that the work of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, together with that of FAO and WHO in their supportive roles, has provided a focal point for food-related scientific research and investigation, and the Commission itself has become an important international medium for the exchange of scientific information about food.
The Codex Alimentarius has stimulated activity in the fields of food chemistry, food technology, food microbiology, mycology, and pesticide and veterinary drug residues. Much work is carried out in the form of collaborative studies between individual scientists, laboratories, institutes and universities and joint FAO/WHO expert committees and consultations.
The membership of expert consultations is of critical importance. The credibility and acceptability of any conclusions and recommendations depend to a very large degree on the objectiveness, scientific skill and overall competence of the members who formulate them. For this reason, great care is taken in the selection of experts invited to participate. Those selected must be pre-eminent in their speciality, have the highest respect of their scientific peers, and be impartial and indisputably objective in their judgement. They are appointed in their own personal right - not as government representatives or as spokespeople for organizations - and their input is theirs alone. Some experts, especially those on continuing committees, remain members for long periods and thereby develop an invaluable institutional memory.
A large amount of scientifically based food data has been generated by expert meetings, convened and serviced jointly by FAO and WHO.
Two such groups, the Joint FAO/WHO Meeting on Pesticide Residues and the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives, have for many years produced internationally acclaimed data which are widely used by governments, industry and research centres. Their input into the work of the Codex Commission is of fundamental importance and the publications resulting from their activities are acclaimed international references. The evaluations performed by JECFA, like those performed by JMPR, are based on the best scientific information available, comprising inputs from many authoritative sources.
[Source : http://www.fao.org/]
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