Codex Alimentarius Update from the NHF

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PRESS RELEASE

Codex NRVs are Thrown Back in the Oven for Reheating

The NHF's Report on the Codex Nutrition Committee Meeting in Santiago, Chile

November 11, 2010

At last year's meeting of the Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods

for Special Dietary Uses (CCNFSDU) in Dusseldorf, Germany, the National Health

Federation (with help from the Indian and Iraqi delegations) was able to stop

the advance of those Guidelines on Nutrient Reference Values (NRVs) that would

have set low numerical values for vitamins and minerals. Some delegations,

especially Australia, were strongly pushing for these " dumbed down " NRVs to go

forward. Had they gone forward at that time – as they very nearly did – then we

would now be looking at well-advanced Codex NRVs of, for example, 45 milligrams

for Vitamin C and 200 IUs for Vitamin D as providing 100% of an adult's daily

nutritional needs.

This week of November 1-5, 2010, the CCNFSDU met once again to debate

this and other NRV texts. Some 250 delegates from 80 countries were in

attendance, comprised of country functionaries and international

non-governmental organizations (INGOs) representatives. The Committee covered

other topics too, such as draft guidelines on the addition of essential

nutrients to foods and formulated supplementary foods for older infants and

children. The latter was a hotly-debated topic.

But for NHF, the NRV issue was the critical one, especially given the

victory at the meeting last year. Could we repeat our success? We had thought

this year's fight would be a long, drawn-out one in the full session of the

Committee, and had even prepared and submitted extensive written comments to the

Committee. (See www.thenhf.com/article.php?id=2584.)

Instead, in just one afternoon, at the special Saturday (October 30th)

meeting of the CCNFSDU Working Group on NRVs, we were able yet again to keep the

dumbed-down NRVs from advancing even one step. See here to read how this

happened: http://www.thenhf.com/article.php?id=2605

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For further information on Codex, please visit the NHF website (Codex):

http://www.thenhf.com/page.php?id=197