A high level Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)-sponsored meeting, held in Dresden, Germany, October 2-6, 2024, has kicked off with a new approach to draft prioritization, where member countries and observers assessed the potential effects of upcoming standards on global trade, public health, and food safety.
Held as the 44th Codex Nutrition Committee meeting, a release by the civil society group, International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN), regretted, however, that to the agri-food industries that represented 40% of participants trade and the profits from ultra-processed foods (UPF) was the priority.
"IBFAN and European Network of Childbirth Associations (ENCA) were virtually the only civil society organisations there to protect the outcomes of the many items on the agenda that will have a profound impact on child health and survival", it claimed.
According to IBFAN, the prioritising requirement seems to be prompting governments to recognise the role Codex has had, and still has, in flooding the world with plastic packaged UPF and be more alert to the risks of approving new global standards and guidelines.
According to IBFAN, the prioritising requirement seems to be prompting governments to recognise the role Codex has had, and still has, in flooding the world with plastic packaged UPF and be more alert to the risks of approving new global standards and guidelines.
As a consequence, it added, three proposals for Codex to start new work on probiotics, synthetic fibre and plant-based foods, that are all being used to boost the marketing of risky UPF, were not advanced for further work.
Sadly, it said, an important proposal by the EU and Switzerland to ask the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling (CCMAS) of the FAO to consider validating a method for taste-testing baby formulas for sweetness did not get approved.
Sadly, it said, an important proposal by the EU and Switzerland to ask the Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling (CCMAS) of the FAO to consider validating a method for taste-testing baby formulas for sweetness did not get approved.
"Although strongly supported by many governments, the proposal was stymied by four major exporters, the USA, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, who prioritised their fast-growing baby formula markets rather than take this opportunity to protect child health. Along with the International Special Dietary Foods Industries (ISDI) they claimed the tests would be too laborious, expensive and not validated", IBFAN noted.
It pointed out, IBFAN and ENCA highlighted global monitoring with Public Eye that exposed Nestlé’s double standards in marketing baby formulas and foods – selling sugar free products in Switzerland – while such products in lower income countries come with high sugar levels.
On the proposal from Malaysia for new Guidelines on Probiotics the UK made a strong statement highlighting the fact that ‘Probiotic’ is a claim and that any new Guidelines should not imply a health benefit, unless such a claim is valid and backed by sound evidence, IBFAN reported.
On the proposal from Malaysia for new Guidelines on Probiotics the UK made a strong statement highlighting the fact that ‘Probiotic’ is a claim and that any new Guidelines should not imply a health benefit, unless such a claim is valid and backed by sound evidence, IBFAN reported.
"The EU and many other countries warned that a new Guidelines was not only unnecessary but would not help countries decide when a the numerous claims in their markets are sound or bogus – the reason some countries were calling for help", it added.
During the meeting, "ENCA warned that a new Guideline might in fact institutionalise the claim, forcing countries to accept it and all the subsequent misleading marketing. ENCA asked that in view of these risks, especially to babies, any new work should refer to products marketed as probiotic."
Supermarket shelf is not the place to make decisions that could fundamentally affect a child’s development
IBFAN said, it highlighted lack of evidence and how the baby food industry is not complying with WHO’s safety advice to reconstitute powdered infant formula with water at 70 degrees. This despite the fact that the industry knows that "this important safeguard that aims to destroy cronobacter pathogens, would render the lactobacilli probiotic ineffective and the claim meaningless."
In fact, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned “that preterm infants who are given probiotics are at risk of invasive, potentially fatal disease caused by bacteria or fungi contained in probiotics.” Yet, IBFAN asserted, the decision was taken not to proceed with this at Codex but instead to ask FAO and WHO to do a systematic review of current evidence and revise their 2021 Guidelines.
As for plant-based formulas, IBFAN and ENCA expressed concern that these are being pushed as the sustainable, healthy option for children and that their use will help the planet.
Acknowledging the valid concerns about the role of dairy products in the climate crisis, IBFAN added ‘plant-based’ UPFs are "far from the healthy option that the term ‘plant’ implies, and these products should not be carrying health, nutrition or greenwashing claims".
IBFAN further said, it along with ENCA also "highlighted industry’s misleading claims and promotion of fructans (synthetic oligosaccharides) and their use of idealising terms such as ‘human milk oligosaccharides’ and ‘HMO’ that falsely imply similarity with breastmilk", stressing, "If an ingredient is proven through credible science to be important, it should be mandatory in all formulas and added to the essential ingredient list."
However, IBFAN underlined, "The supermarket shelf is not the place to make decisions that could fundamentally affect a child’s development."
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