| July
1 , 2004
Codex Backs Safety Approach to Maximum Levels
The Codex Alimentarius Commission, meeting in Geneva
this week, has endorsed draft guidelines on vitamin and mineral
supplements that recommend basing maximum levels of nutrients
on safety rather than the RDA.
The breakthrough, reached by the Committee on Nutrition and Foods
for Special Dietary Uses (CNFSDU) at a meeting in Germany last
year, has now been ratified by the committee at step five of the
eight-step Codex decision-making process.
Maximum levels are of key importance to the supplement industry
as they determine the amount of nutrients allowed in supplements.
Some countries such as Norway, Malaysia, Thailand, and much of
Latin America, still require that the vitamins or minerals contained
in a supplement should not exceed 100 per cent of the recommended
daily intake determined by the FAO.
However many countries now base the maximum levels on safety,
and upper safe levels, rather than RDA. This allows for formulas
to contain significantly higher amounts.
The decision by Codex to also follow such an approach is a major
victory for the industry, according to the International Alliance
of Dietary Supplement Associations (IADSA).
“This is probably the single biggest decision to take place
in the dietary supplements industry. Its impact is on the same
level as DSHEA in 1994 (US regulation) and the EU Food Supplements
Directive of 2002,” Simon Pettman, executive director of
IADSA, told NutraIngredients.com last year.
The Codex vote to remove RDA will send out a strong signal to
those governments still backing RDAs. This could significantly
improve global trading for supplement makers.
Codex Alimentarius, set up by the UN’s Food and Agriculture
Organization and World Health Organization, establishes standards
for regulation for the 170 member countries, as well as the World
Trade Organization. It can therefore be influential, particularly
in areas without current standards in place and for new members
to WTO, such as China.
“We know that some countries in Latin American have been
closely following the decisions. Some Mexican regulators even
came to our recent conference in Prague to learn more about risk
assessment,” said David Pineda, in charge of regulatory
affairs at IADSA.
“The Codex guidelines are important because they offer
standards that are harmonized at an international level. Facilitating
global trade is after all one of the main reasons for the creation
of Codex.”
He added that there is still significant work to be done on other
aspects of the guidelines.
The new text will now be circulated to members for comment from
governments and observers, and discussed further (step seven)
at the next meeting of the Codex Nutrition Committee, taking place
in Bonn in November.
Source: http://www.nutraingredients.com/
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