The Codex Alimentarius Commission held its annual meeting with a special ceremony marking its 60th anniversary. The plenary discussions of the 46th session of the Commission took place at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Rome.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, FAO Director-General QU Dongyu noted that since 1963, Codex has grown from its initial 30 members to 189.

"Sixty years ago, the goal was to highlight the rapidly growing importance of internationally accepted food standards as a means of protecting consumers and producers globally and efficiently reducing trade barriers – these objectives are still very relevant today," he said.

"More than ever, there is a significant emphasis on science and risk assessment as the basis for standards, looking to science to prevent food from becoming unsafe and to reduce the risk of foodborne diseases," he added.

"Codex Alimentarius brings together the world's foremost scientists to analyze all available data and discuss specific microbiological or chemical hazards. Their deliberations focus on protecting the most vulnerable, such as children and pregnant women, and take into account local and regional differences in food consumption," explained Qu, mentioning that, due to today's longer and more complex food chain, prevention and control systems for food safety, like Codex, have become increasingly important and significant.

Codex also defines food quality, providing guidance on hygiene, labeling, nutrition, and measurement and sampling techniques to attest to their safety.

At the 46th session, discussions revolved around adopting a series of new texts and guidelines in line with its objectives to ensure the production and trade of safe food.

The primary goal of Codex is to establish global food standards based on scientific evidence and objective criteria.

The focus of these standards is to assess scientific findings and potential risks while prioritizing food safety and reducing the likelihood of foodborne illnesses. The scientific foundation for these standards is provided by the WHO and FAO.

While these recommendations are voluntary for member states, they offer a framework for national health laws.

Thanks to these standards, consumers are increasingly protected from unsafe or low-quality food purchases, and importers have more confidence that they will receive compliant shipments.

The Commission aims to ensure that global food standards are uniform and that guidance for food safety, quality, and proper practices is created and adhered to.

In its six decades of activity, the Commission has adopted hundreds of guidelines and codes of practice and thousands of numerical standards, becoming a global reference for the safe production, storage, and distribution of food worldwide.

Following the plenary discussions, the focus was on the implementation of standards, reducing antimicrobial resistance in food, and the Codex Trust Fund.