Yesterday the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that it will hold a public meeting along with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to provide information and receive comments on agenda items for the 41st Session of the Codex Committee on Food Hygiene (CCFH), which will be held in San Diego, CA in mid November.

CCFH, a committee hosted by the United States, was established to draft basic provisions on food hygiene for all food items, as part of the larger Codex mission to create global food standards.

The public meeting will be held Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 from 1 to 4 p.m. at FDA headquarters in College Park, MD.

There is a long list of agenda items that will be discussed at the meeting, including the Draft Annex for Fresh Leafy Vegetables to the Code of Hygienic Practice of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables, Draft Guidelines for the Control of Campylobacter and Salmonella in Chicken Meat, and Draft Codes of Practice for Vibrio in Seafood.

To ask questions about the meeting, the public can contact Jasmine Matthews by phone at (202) 690-1124 or by email at jasmine.matthews@fsis.usda.gov for more information.

Individuals can also submit comments electronically to Donald Zink at donald.zink@fdsa.hhs.gov.