Codex backs safety approach to maximum levels (via Nutraingredients)
- 7/1/2004 - 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. It is expected to be a strong signal to countries still using RDA
to inform maximum nutrient levels.
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. 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.
