CAC pens food supplement norms

The Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), which sets globally valid quality standards for food products, has adopted over 20 new and amended food standards in its annual meeting that ended in Rome last week.

Among the measures adopted were guidelines on vitamin and mineral food supplements and their labelling.

According to the new guidelines, labels on vitamins and mineral food supplements should contain information on maximum consumption levels. This will enable consumers to use them in a safe and effective manner.

This conforms to the World Health Organisation (WHO) stipulation that consumers should receive beneficial health effects from vitamins and minerals.

About 120 countries were represented at this year's session of the CAC, the global food standards-setting body established jointly by the WHO and the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). It has 172 members, all of which are members of the FAO or WHO or both.

The fresh guidelines say that people should be encouraged to select a balanced diet to get sufficient amount of vitamins and minerals. The supplements should be used only in cases where food does not provide adequate vitamins and minerals.

The meet agreed, in principle, to set up a task force to address the controversial issue of anti-microbial resistance. A formal decision on this is likely next year.

Some global bodies, including the WHO, the FAO and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) have already developed guidelines for the prudent use of anti-microbials in treatment of human and livestock illnesses. These norms are likely to be carried forward by the proposed task force to ensure food safety.

Anti-microbial resistance has been debated for several years without arriving at any agreement chiefly because its implications cut across sectors such as animal health and production, human health and drug manufacturing.

The new task force will bring all these sectors together and develop a holistic approach towards this issue.

According to a note circulated by the FAO, resistance to anti-microbial drugs, such as antibiotics, is an emerging public heath problem caused by a number of factors.

These include the inappropriate use of antibiotics in humans; antibiotic treatment of illnesses in animals used for human consumption; and, in some cases, to promote faster growth. The use of anti-microbials as pesticides is also a factor in anti-microbial resistance.

Resistant micro-organisms developed in animals used for human consumption are liable to be transmitted to humans mainly through contaminated food.

For example, resistant strains of salmonella and other food-borne microorganisms are now frequently encountered, limiting the effective treatment of human infections, which in some cases can result in death.