Codex Alimentarius and international food standards
What the Codex Alimentarius is, how its standards are made, risk analysis and JECFA, MRLs and additives, the WTO SPS link, and how India's FSSAI fits in.
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Every year, food worth well over a trillion US dollars crosses borders. For that trade to work, an importing country needs to trust that food meets agreed limits for pesticide residues, additives, contaminants and hygiene. The Codex Alimentarius, Latin for "food code", is the international collection of food standards, guidelines and codes of practice that provides this common reference. It is run by the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), set up in 1963 by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
Codex has two aims: to protect consumers' health and to ensure fair practices in the food trade. It now has 189 members, 188 countries plus the European Union, which together cover over 99% of the world's population.
How Codex is organised
The Commission meets every year, alternating between Rome and Geneva, and is served by a Secretariat at FAO in Rome. The detailed work is done by subsidiary committees, each hosted by a member country.
| Type | Examples |
|---|---|
| General subject committees (apply to all foods) | Food Additives (CCFA), Contaminants in Foods (CCCF), Pesticide Residues (CCPR), Residues of Veterinary Drugs (CCRVDF), Food Hygiene (CCFH), Food Labelling (CCFL), Methods of Analysis and Sampling (CCMAS), Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses (CCNFSDU) |
| Commodity committees | Spices and Culinary Herbs (CCSCH, hosted by India), Fresh Fruits and Vegetables, Fats and Oils, Milk and Milk Products, Fish and Fishery Products |
| Regional coordinating committees | Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, Near East, North America and South-West Pacific |
Each country has a Codex Contact Point to coordinate its participation. In India this is the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
Risk analysis: science first
Codex follows the risk analysis framework, which has three parts.
- Risk assessment is done by independent scientific expert bodies convened by FAO and WHO. JECFA (Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives) covers additives, contaminants and veterinary drug residues; JMPR (Joint Meeting on Pesticide Residues) covers pesticides; and JEMRA (Joint Expert Meetings on Microbiological Risk Assessment) covers pathogens.
- Risk management is done by Codex committees, which decide on limits and codes of practice.
- Risk communication is the exchange of information among assessors, managers, industry and consumers.
Separating assessment from management keeps science distinct from policy and trade interests.
Acceptable daily intake
A central number from JECFA and JMPR is the acceptable daily intake (ADI): the amount of a substance a person can take in every day for a lifetime without appreciable health risk. It is usually derived from the highest dose that causes no adverse effect in animal studies, divided by a safety factor.
ADI for an additive
In a long-term rat study, the NOAEL for a preservative is 25 mg per kg body weight per day. With a safety factor of 100, the ADI is 0.25 mg per kg body weight per day. A 60 kg adult could consume up to 0.25 × 60 = 15 mg per day for a lifetime. Codex then sets maximum levels in foods so that typical diets stay below this.
Main types of Codex texts
- Commodity standards describe a food's composition, quality factors, additives, contaminants, hygiene, labelling and methods of analysis. Examples include standards for honey, basmati rice, cheeses, black pepper and canned fruit.
- General standards apply across foods. Key ones are the General Standard for Food Additives (GSFA), the General Standard for Contaminants and Toxins in Food and Feed (including aflatoxin limits) and the General Standard for the Labelling of Prepackaged Foods.
- Maximum residue limits (MRLs) are the highest legally tolerated residue of a pesticide or veterinary drug in a food. Codex has set several thousand pesticide MRLs, often called CXLs.
- Codes of practice and guidelines: the most important is the General Principles of Food Hygiene, revised in 2020, which contains the Codex HACCP system.
Codex standards are voluntary. They become binding only when a country adopts them into national law.
The link to world trade
Codex became much more influential in 1995 when the World Trade Organization began. Two WTO agreements matter here:
- The Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement names Codex as the reference for food safety. A country whose rules follow Codex standards is presumed to comply. A country that wants stricter rules must justify them with a scientific risk assessment. The same agreement names the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) for animal health and the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) for plant health. These are often called the "three sisters".
- The Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Agreement covers labelling and quality requirements. Under it, Codex standards also serve as international benchmarks.
Exporters therefore care about Codex MRLs. Shipments of spices, tea, rice and grapes can be rejected if residues exceed the importing country's limit, which may be stricter than the Codex value.
India and Codex
India joined Codex in 1964. Its food law, the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, created FSSAI, which sets national standards and increasingly aligns them with Codex. India chairs the Codex Committee on Spices and Culinary Herbs, which has adopted standards for black pepper, cumin, thyme, chillies and other spices. The Export Inspection Council and commodity boards help exporters meet Codex and importing-country requirements.
Key points
- Codex Alimentarius is the international food code of FAO and WHO, set up in 1963, with 189 members.
- It aims to protect consumer health and ensure fair food trade.
- Standards follow risk analysis: assessment by JECFA, JMPR and JEMRA; management by Codex committees; and risk communication.
- ADI = NOAEL ⁄ safety factor, usually 100.
- Main texts are commodity standards, general standards (additives, contaminants, labelling), MRLs, and codes of practice such as the General Principles of Food Hygiene with HACCP.
- Codex standards are voluntary but are the WTO SPS reference for food safety; WOAH and IPPC cover animal and plant health.
- FSSAI is India's Codex Contact Point; India chairs the spices committee.
What the exams ask
- Expand CAC, JECFA, JMPR and FSSAI, and state when Codex was established.
- Explain the three components of risk analysis.
- Define ADI and MRL and calculate an ADI from a NOAEL.
- Name the "three sisters" of the SPS Agreement.
- Describe the Codex step procedure.
Described in general terms: the kind of examination, not a past paper. Laisha never reproduces exam questions.
Questions people ask
Are Codex standards legally binding?
Not directly. Countries choose whether to adopt them. In practice they carry great weight: under the WTO SPS Agreement, rules based on Codex are presumed justified, and many national food laws adopt Codex limits wholesale.
Why do EU limits sometimes differ from Codex?
Countries may set stricter limits if they can justify them scientifically, and some apply a precautionary approach. The EU, for example, sets a default MRL of 0.01 mg per kg for pesticides it has not approved. This is why exporters must check the importing market's limit as well as the Codex value.
What is the difference between ADI and MRL?
ADI is a health-based limit on a person's total daily intake, per kilogram of body weight. MRL is a legal limit on the residue in a specific food, based on good agricultural practice, and set so that total intake from all foods stays below the ADI.
Sources
- FAO and WHO. Understanding Codex, 5th edition. Rome, 2018.
- FAO and WHO. Codex Alimentarius Commission Procedural Manual, 28th edition. Rome, 2023.
- FAO and WHO. General Principles of Food Hygiene (CXC 1-1969, revised 2020). Codex Alimentarius.
- World Trade Organization. Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures. Geneva, 1995.
- Food Safety and Standards Authority of India. Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
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