The 29th Session of the CCNFSDU was held in Bad-Neuenahr Ahrweiler, Germany. Two hundred seventy-eight delegates, observers, and advisors attended this meeting, representing 71 member countries, one member organization and 26 international organizations. The United States Delegation was headed by Dr. Barbara Schneeman, FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, with support provided by Dr. Allison Yates, USDA Agricultural Research Service (alternate U.S. Delegate), three additional government advisors, and six non-government advisors.

This session was highly productive with substantial progress made on most agenda items. The U.S. is especially pleased with the successful resolution of issues that enabled two documents to advance to Step 8 that will further the Codex goals of protecting consumers' health and facilitating fair international trade: 1) the Draft Revised Codex Standard for Foods for Special Dietary Use for Persons Intolerant to Gluten, and 2) the Advisory Lists of Nutrient Compounds for Use in Foods For Special Dietary Uses Intended for Infants and Young Children. These are notable accomplishments, given the many divergent views at the start of the session on the first document, and the successful resolution of provisions for optional ingredients in the second.

The Committee further agreed to advance a document on draft nutritional risk analysis principles and guidelines to Step 5, and to request that the Commission approve new work to update and extend the current list of vitamin and mineral Nutrient Reference Values (NRVs) for Food Labelling Purposes. In addition, the Committee agreed to hold electronic and/or physical working groups to facilitate progress on methods of analysis for infant formula, the NRVs, scientific basis of health claims, and any other matters related to the WHO Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health.

Matters Referred by the Codex Alimentarius Commission and Other Codex Committees

Methods of Analysis for the Standard for Infant Formula and Formulas for Special Medical Purposes Intended for Infants
The Committee recalled that the 30th Session of the Commission had adopted the above standard with the understanding that the Section on methods of analysis would be reviewed by the CCNFSDU with a view to its submission to the Codex Committee on Methods, Analysis and Sampling (CCMAS) for endorsement. The Committee noted that some proposals relevant to questions posed by the 28th CCMAS Session were contained in CRD 10 prepared by the United States. A CRD on methods of analysis prepared by the European Community was also made available. The Committee agreed to establish an inter-session working group chaired by the U.S. to review issues related to methods of analysis and to establish an electronic working group (EWG) chaired by New Zealand to continue the work. The inter-session working group prepared terms of reference for the EWG. The EWG was charged with preparing a list of methods of analysis for infant formula to be considered at the next CCNFSDU session. The inter-session working group provided some responses to the questions from the Codex Committee on Methods, Analysis and Sampling in CRD 17. The EWG will provide additional material to address the questions from CCMAS.

Food Additives in Infant Formula
The Committee noted the clarification of the Secretariat of JECFA regarding the applicability of the ADI concept for infants below 12 weeks of age as presented in CRD 12 (i.e., that for most food additives the ADIs allocated are applicable only to children older than 12 weeks). The Committee agreed that there was no need for CCNFSDU to consider the food additive provisions before JECFA and CCFA conclude their work on the remaining food additive issues posed by the 28th Session of the Committee.

Food Safety Assessment of Foods Derived from Recombinant-DNA Plants Modified for Nutritional or Health Benefits
The 7th session of the Codex ad hoc Intergovernmental Task Force invited the CCNFSDU to review the above Annex and provide comments if necessary. Some delegations pointed out that the Annex contained references to appropriate Codex and other texts that addressed nutrition-related concepts, including those established by this Committee. The Committee noted that the proposed Annex was considerably debated by the Task Force and, and after some discussion agreed to endorse the text as proposed by the Task Force.

Trans Fatty Acids
The representative of WHO informed the Committee about a Scientific Update on Trans Fatty Acids which was led by WHO. The representative indicated that six scientific review papers would be published most likely in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition in early 2008.

Guidelines for the Use of Nutrition Claims: Draft Table of Conditions for Nutrient Contents (Part B Containing Provisions of Dietary Fiber)

At the last session, the Committee asked for comments and additional input on the definition and other provisions for dietary fiber in light of the results of the FAO/WHO Scientific Update on Carbohydrates in Human Nutrition. The WHO representative informed the Committee about the availability of all the papers prepared for this scientific update as a supplement of the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (Volume 61, Supplement 1, December 2007), which was also distributed to Codex Contact Points. A member of the expert group that undertook this scientific update informed the Committee about the rationale for their proposed definition. Several delegations expressed the view that they would need more time to consider the results of the scientific update—as the papers had only been available shortly before the meeting. After some discussion, the Committee agreed to return the document to Step 6 and ask for comments in a Circular Letter about the FAO/WHO scientific update as it relates to defining dietary fiber.

Draft Revised Standard for Food for Special Dietary Use for Persons Intolerant to Gluten

The Committee discussed a revised draft of the standard with remaining bracketed text that resulted from a physical working group meeting co-chaired by Sweden and Canada on November 10, 2007. The Committee agreed to rename the standard and include two categories of products: 1) gluten-free foods and 2) foods specially processed to reduce gluten content, and to indicate that decisions on the marketing of products in the second category may be determined at the national level. The Committee further agreed on provisions for labeling (including provisions for the two categories of foods and for foods naturally gluten-free) and on clarifying text in the methods of analysis section. Based on the excellent progress, the Committee agreed to forward the standard to the 31st Session of the Commission for final adoption at Step 8.

Draft Advisory List of Nutrient Compounds for Use in Foods for Special Dietary Uses Intended for Infants and Young Children

The Committee considered the document section by section. It agreed with the proposal by the Delegation of the United States to add a new section on optional ingredients, and that these ingredients should meet the criteria specified in Section 2.1 and the provisions in relevant Codex standards. The Committee made certain revisions to the lists and agreed to delete the list of substances for which official purity requirements had not been identified. Based on the excellent progress, the Committee agreed to forward the standard to the 31st Session of the Commission for final adoption at Step 8, with the exception of the level of gum Arabic in Part D, which was returned to Step 6 for further consideration at the next session.

Proposed Draft Recommendations of the Scientific Basis of Health Claims

The Delegation of France recalled the background in developing these draft recommendations and noted some remaining issues to be clarified, including the scope of the document, and the standard of evidence required to substantiate health claims. The Committee agreed that the draft recommendations when finalized would be included as an Annex in the Guidelines for Use of Nutrition and Health Claims, and that claims about whole diets were excluded from the scope. The Delegation of the United States recommended that the phrase "property of food" or "property" be replaced by "food(s) or food constituent(s)" throughout the text to be consistent with the Guidelines for Use of Nutrition and Health Claims. The United States further proposed reorganizing some of the text to follow the steps for substantiation of health claims, and to provide additional guidance on the review of studies. Other delegations and observers expressed their views on the role of different types of studies in the substantiation of claims. The Committee could not come to a conclusion on the provisions for scientific evidence or the reorganization of the text at this stage, and agreed to return the Proposed Draft Recommendations to Step 2/3. To facilitate progress, France will lead an electronic working group to revise the document and a physical working group (to be co-chaired by France, the U.S., and Korea) will address this topic immediately prior to the 30th CCNFSDU session.

Proposed Draft Nutritional Risk Analysis Principles and Guidelines for Application to the Work of the Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses

The Delegation of Australia introduced this document and explained its structure and content. The Committee considered the document section by section, and reached agreement on much of the text. The Committee recognized that significant progress had been made, and despite the fact that certain text was left in square brackets, it agreed to advance the document to Step 5 for adoption by the 31st Session of the Commission.

Discussion Paper on the Proposals for Additional or Revised Nutrient Reference Values (NRVs) for Labeling Purposes

The Delegation of the Republic of Korea introduced a revised discussion paper with draft general principles in an Appendix, and a draft project document of a proposal for new work. The Delegation indicated the need for the Committee to decide on the scope of the nutrients and population group(s) to be addressed in the new work. The Committee agreed that the scope of the document should be limited to vitamins and minerals. After some discussion, the Committee agreed that this work would involve a process to develop the general principles for the establishment of NRVs for the general population as a first step, and the next step would be to review available reference values and their scientific basis by the agreed upon principles, and if appropriate, update and extend the current list of vitamin and mineral NRVs. Once the above was completed, the Committee would then establish vitamin and mineral NRVs for individuals 6 months to 36 months of age, based on appropriate modification of the principles established for the general population. To facilitate progress on this agenda item, the Delegation of Korea will lead an electronic working group to revise the document and a physical working group (to be co-chaired by Korea, the U.S. and France) will address this topic immediately prior to the 30th CCNFSDU session.

Discussion Paper on the Production and Processing Standards Regarding the Nutritional Quality and Safety of Foods

The Delegation of Canada introduced the document. After consideration of existing Codex texts and other Codex texts in development that address this subject matter, the Committee concluded that no further work in this area was necessary at this time.

Discussion Paper on the Proposal for New Work to Amend the Codex General Principles for the Addition of Essential Nutrient to Foods

The Delegation of Canada introduced the document. The Delegation of the EC supported limiting consideration of new work to the direct addition of nutrients to foods. The Delegation of the United States supported some of the concerns expressed by the EC on the much broader scope proposed by Canada, and noted, among other things, that the revision of the General Principles might open up controversial areas for which agreement by the Committee would be very difficult. Some delegations were in favor of further development of this document. The Committee noted that work on the revision might proceed in areas where it could be possible to get agreement and requested that the Delegation of Canada prepare a revised document with a narrower scope in light of the comments made at this session.

Other Matters Discussed During the Session

Proposal for New Work to Establish a Standard for Processed Cereal-Based Foods for Underweight Infants and Young Children
The Delegation of India urged the Committee to initiate new work on a separate standard for processed cereal-based foods for underweight infants and young children. Several delegations and observers supported the spirit of the document. The Committee agreed that the Delegation of India with assistance from other interested parties would work electronically to prepare a more structured project document for consideration at the next session of this Committee.

WHO Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health (Global Strategy)
The Delegation of Canada, speaking as the Chair of the Codex Committee on Food Labelling (CCFL), informed the Committee of the discussion held on the recommendations from the WHO and FAO draft action plan on the implementation of the Global Strategy, and indicated that a physical working group would be held prior to the next CCFL meeting to discuss pending issues. The Delegation also expressed the view that there was a need to consider mechanisms available for inter-committee communication and cooperation and seek further guidance from WHO and FAO on their roles in assisting with the implementation of the Global Strategy in relation to Codex activities. After consideration of proposals put forth from the Delegation of the EC and the United States, the Committee agreed that a physical working group (to be co-chaired by France, the Republic of Korea and the U.S.) would be held immediately prior to the 30th Session to address issues of relevance to the implementation of the Global Strategy which are under consideration by the CCNFSDU including NRVs for food labeling purposes, the scientific basis of health claims, and any other related matters.

The full report of the 29th CCNFSDU Session will be posted at the following web address: https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20080923010928/http://www.codexalimentarius.net/web/archives.jsp?lang=en

The 30th Session of the CCNFSDU is tentatively scheduled for November 3-7, 2008 in South Africa (exact location to be determined).