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| Delegate's Report, 39th Session of the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene, Oct 30-Nov 4, 2007, New Delhi, India |
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Submitted by Robert L. Buchanan, Ph.D.
U.S. Head of Delegation
November 14, 2007
The U.S. Delegation to the Codex Alimentarius Committee on Food Hygiene (CCFH) consisted of nine individuals:
Dr. Robert L. Buchanan (HHS/FDA, Head of Delegation), Dr. Rebecca Buckner (HHS/FDA, Alternate Delegate), Dr.
Kerry Dearfield (USDA/FSIS, Alternate Delegate), Dr. Catherine Chesnutt (USDA/FAS), Ms. Barbara McNiff (USDA/FSIS),
Ms. Jenny Scott (Grocery Manufacturers Association), Mr. Daniel A. March (Mead Johnson Nutritionals), Mr. Brian S.
Eblen (Exponent), and Dr. Karl E. Olson (Abbott Nutrition). The meeting's agenda was substantial, including
consideration of five major documents.
1. Proposed Draft Code of Hygienic Practice for Powdered Formulae for Infants and Young Children (Lead Country: Canada)
The code provides guidance for the manufacture, distribution, and use of powdered formulae including infant
formulae, formulae for special medical purposes, follow-up formulae, and human milk fortifiers. Three annexes
are associated with the code:
- Annex I: Microbiological criteria for powdered infant formula, formulae for special medical purposes (intended as a sole source of nutrition), and human milk fortifiers.
- Annex II: Microbiological criteria for follow-up formulae and formulae for special medical purposes (not intended to be a sole source of nutrition).
- Annex III: Guidance for the establishment of monitoring programs for Salmonella, Enterobacter sakazakii
and other Enterobaceteriaceae in high hygiene processing areas and in powdered formula preparation units.
After a substantive discussion among the delegations, the code, annex I, and annex III were considered in excellent
shape and recommended for accelerated adoption at step 5/8. Consensus on annex II could not be reached because of
differing opinions on whether follow-up formulae fed to infants between 6 and 12 months should have a microbiological
criterion for Enterobacter sakazakii. Annex II was returned to step 2 for further work and a request
to FAO/WHO was made for further scientific advice on the relative susceptibility of this age group for this pathogen.
2. Proposed Draft Guidelines for the Validation of Food Control Measures (Lead Country: United States)
This guidance provides advice to governments and industry on the validation of individual control measures or
combinations of control measures, forming a food safety control system. The document includes an annex that provides
six examples of approaches for validating different types of control measures. While there was substantial discussion
on the specifics of several of the examples, it was decided that appropriate qualifying language would suffice at the
beginning of the annex to convey that the examples were for purposes of illustration only. The document was deemed
acceptable and was recommended for accelerated adoption at step 5/8.
3. Principles and Guidelines for the Conduct of Microbiological Risk Management. Proposed Draft Annex II:
Guidance on Microbiological Risk Management Metrics (Lead Country: United States)
This annex had been retained at step 2 after the last session of CCFH for further work. The purpose of the annex
is to provide guidance to governments concerning the development of standards, criteria, and other metrics that may
be established as part of a microbiological risk management program. The document was refocused to articulate basic
principles and guidelines on how these metrics are established and interrelated to achieve the level of public
health protection desired. The United States requested an intra-session working group meeting to seek additional
input and to get consensus on several points within the annex. With this additional consensus building, when the
full CCFH considered the document it found it to be in excellent shape. After minimal discussion, it was recommended
for accelerated adoption at step 5/8.
4. Code of Hygienic Practice for the Control of Listeria monocytogenes in Ready-to-eat Foods.
Annex II: Proposed Draft Microbiological Criteria for Listeria monocytogenes in Ready-to-eat Foods (Lead Country: Germany)
This annex articulated three different criteria for ready-to-eat foods that essentially mimic the microbiological
criteria recently established by the European Community. The criteria are based on whether or not a food is able
to support the growth of L. monocytogenes. There was surprisingly little discussion of the proposed 100
cfu/g criterion for foods that do not support the growth of the pathogen. However, the two criteria for foods
that do support growth of the pathogen generated a great deal of concern, mostly in written comments. The first
criterion, which is based on the absence of L. monocytogenes in five 25-g samples, represents a 2.5 to 5.0
times increase in testing stringency over current internationally recognized criteria. There was little explanation
on why this increase was needed in terms of enhancing public health. The second criterion, which was based on the
level of L. monocytogenes not exceeding 100 cfu/g over the shelf life of the product, was very
controversial in regard to validation and implementation. There was also substantial discussion in written
comments about the inclusion of guidance on testing programs for environmental monitoring and process control
testing by governments. Because of the amount of disharmony expressed in written comments, there was little
discussion of specifics of the document during plenary. The Committee determined that it would like to retain
the current focus of the annex on elaboration of microbiological criteria. The U.S. delegation suggested that
the use of risk management metrics, as they were just adopted by the Committee (point 3 above), might be a way
to provide government guidance in setting criteria when considering L. monocytogenes levels
throughout the food chain. However, the consensus of CCFH was that this annex needed substantial reevaluation
and it was returned to step 2. The working group, which will again be led by Germany and in which the United
States will participate, will meet again in Germany (likely in May, 2008) to address the issues raised by CCFH members.
5. Discussion Paper on the Proposed Draft Guidelines for the Control of Campylobacter and Salmonella
spp. in Broiler (Young Bird) Chicken Meat (Lead Countries: Sweden and New Zealand)
Substantial progress by the working group was achieved during the past year. The CCFH focused on discussions
related to the scope and definitions used in the paper, noting the request by the Codex Alimentarius Commission
that the scope be expanded to include birds of all ages. The CCFH concluded that sufficient data were available
to begin work for young birds with guidance for older birds being added as an annex. The working group leads
also agreed to provide risk profiles for both of the pathogens. The discussion paper was accepted into the
Code process at step 2, and would take the form of a proposed draft code of hygienic practice. The United
States has volunteered to participate in that working group which will likely meet in May, 2008.
In addition to these five documents, CCFH considered the requests for new work to be undertaken by the committee.
The United States had submitted two formal requests for new work, Proposed Draft Code of Hygienic Practice for
Pathogenic Vibrio spp. in Seafood and a series of commodity-specific annexes to the current Code of
Hygienic Practice for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables. The work on Vibrio was recommended by CCFH, and a
work group to be led by Japan was established. The United States agreed to participate in that work group.
After substantial discussion it was decided to begin work on one of the commodity-specific annexes to the produce code.
Based on the results of the FAO/WHO expert consultation that took place in September 2007, work will be initiated
on an annex for "Leafy Green Vegetables and Fresh Herbs." A working group to be led by the United States was
established. There was also a great deal of interest in developing new work in the area of controlling foodborne
transmission of noroviruses. The delegation from The Netherlands has been developing a proposal for such work,
but was unable to complete it in time for the CCFH meeting. The CCFH encouraged The Netherlands to complete the
request for new work for consideration at the next session.
Several additional items were considered by CCFH:
- While noting potential benefits to developing countries for domestic milk supplies, the Committee could not reach consensus on the Commission's request that the Committee review the current guidance that milk treated using the lactoperoxidase system should not be used in international trade. Most delegations to CCFH supported the current restriction of limiting the use of this technology to national uses or uses covered by bilateral agreements between countries.
- The Committee prioritized its needs for scientific advice from FAO/WHO. The priority requests were (1) risk of Enterobacter sakazakii infections associated with follow-up formula consumed by infants aged 6 to 12 months, and (2) microbiological hazards on leafy green vegetables and fresh herbs. Additional requests related to Salmonella and Campylobacter in chicken meat other than broilers (young chickens) are being developed by that working group.
- The United States recommended that the Annex on performance objectives for liquid egg processing that was to be appended to the Code of Hygienic Practice for Egg and Egg Products was no longer necessary at the current time due completion of the Annex on Guidance on Microbiological Risk Management Metrics. The CCFH agreed and removed this work from the current agenda.
- The FAO/WHO reported on its provision of scientific advice in support of Codex activities.
- The Delegation of France volunteered to serve as the next session's lead delegation the ad hoc CCFH working group for the establishment of CCFH work priorities.
- The Delegation of India volunteered to lead an electronic working group to begin to address the development of a CCFH risk analysis policy document requested by the Codex Alimentarius Commission.
- The next meeting of the CCFH is scheduled to take place on December 1 - 5, 2008 in the United States.
In summary, the CCFH had a highly productive meeting that completed several important pieces of work. The United States
was actively involved in all of those activities and was pleased with the progress achieved at the meeting and the
results achieved.
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Last Modified:
November 21, 2007 |
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