Earlier this month, the Codex Alimentarius Commission, run by the World Health Organization and the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, agreed on several new recommendations for food safety. Codex influences food standards of the 186 participating nations, although the countries have not enacted the recommendations into law yet. One decision was that eight veterinary drugs, which include antimicrobial and growth-promoting products, cannot be present in even residual quantities in eggs, honey, meat or milk. Another decision was to reduce the permissible level of lead in infant formula from the previous limit of 0.2 mg/kg to 0.1 mg/kg. In maize, fumonisins, which are mold toxins that can grow as a result of humidity and insect damage and can result in kidney or liver damage, may be present at no more than 4 mg/kg in the raw crop and at a maximum of 2 mg/kg in maize flour. This is the first time recommendations for such toxins have been proposed.

Source: AFP