Codex Alimentarius Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses: CCNFSDU43

The forthcoming 43rd meeting of the Codex Alimentarius Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses (CCNFSDU43) and related meetings will be held from 6 to 15 March 2023 in Düsseldorf, Germany. CCNFSDU43 is expected first and foremost to complete the revision work on the existing Food Standard for Follow-Up Formulas for older infants and young children (CXS 156, 2017 version), with expected tense discussions on the preamble and the structure of the future final standard and whether or not references to WHO guidance texts or WHA resolutions should be added to such technical specifications and self-standing Codex Alimentarius Food Standard, worth noticing New Zealand’s CRD3 showing precisely how the concepts and guidance from such WHO and WHA documents have already been incorporated into the revised text of the draft standard. CCNFSDU43 will also consider recom-mendations from the pre-session working group (PWG) to finalise the work on the proposed draft General Principles for Establishing NRVs-R for Persons Aged 6 - 36 Months, paving the way of the future work and development of such nutritional values of reference for that subgroup of the population. CCNFSDU43 will continue the discussion on technological justifications provided for the inclusion of use for several food additives[1] in infant formulas (and related formulas for special medical purposes).

Finally, CCNFSDU43 will consider the recommendations from the PWG on the prioritization mechanism that CCNFSDU may use in the future, as well as several important proposals for new work. Namely, CCNFSDU43 may decide to work on (a) general guidelines to establish nutrient profiles for front-of-pack nutrition labelling (FOPNL); (b) guidelines on the use of probiotic(s) in foods and dietary supplements; (c) amendments to the existing codex standard for canned baby foods (CXS 73, 2017 version); (d) proposal to align the permitted uses of the folic acid source calcium-l-methyl folate with those of n-pteroyl-l-glutamic acid in the advisory list of nutrient compounds for use in foods for special dietary uses intended for infants and young children (set in CXG 10, 2015 version); (d) guidelines - including general principles - for the nutritional composition of foods and beverages made from plant-based and other alternative protein sources (to distinguish them from meat and eventually from cell-based meat); or (e) discussion paper on establishing a nutrient reference value (NRV-NCD) for trans-fatty acids (put forward by the European margarine producers).

The 43rd session of the Codex Alimentarius Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses will be held for the first time since 2019 in person and be preceded on Monday March 6 by two pre-session working groups respectively on (a) the general principles for the establishment of NRVs-R for persons aged 6 – 36 months (morning) and (b) on the prioritization mechanism and emerging issues or new work proposals (afternoon).The adoption of the report of the CCNFSDU43 plenary will be held virtually only on 15 March 2023 (from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm (CET)). More information about the CCNFSDU43 meeting is available at https:// www.fao.org/fao-who-codexalimentarius/meetings/de-tail/en/?meeting=CCNFSDU&session=43.

By Christophe Leprêtre[2] (Keller and Heckman LLP)

This article was first published in the World Food Regulation Review February 2023 Issue.

[1] Acyl clarified gellan gum (INS 418), Ascorbyl palmi-tate (INS 304), Mixed tocopherol concentrates (INS 307b), some Phosphates (339(i), 339(ii) and 339(iii) and 340(i), 340(ii) and 340(iii)).

[2] Food and Agriculture Engineer, Regulatory and Scientific Counsellor at Keller and Heckman LLP.