The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Office of Food Safety and the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announced last week that they will hold a public meeting to provide information and address comments regarding milk and milk products on Wednesday, January 13, 2010.
The public meeting precedes the 9th Session of the Codex Committee on Milk and Milk Products (CCMMP), which will be held in Aukland, New Zealand, from February 1-5, 2010.
At the February meeting, members of the CCMMP will address the following issues:
- Maximum levels of annatto extracts in Codex Standards for milk and milk products.
- Draft Amendment to the Codex Standard for Fermented Milks pertaining to drinks based on fermented milk.
- Consistency of the Model Export Certificate for Milk and Milk Products with the Generic Model Official Certificate.
CCMMP is an international committee hosted by the Government of New Zealand.
Codex was created in 1963 by the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization, which are both United Nations organizations. Codex develops food standards, guidelines, and codes of practice to protect consumer health, ensure fair food trade practices, and promote coordination of food standards undertaken by international governmental and non-governmental organizations.
A complete agenda and documents relating to the 9th Session of CCMMP is available on the Codex Alimentarius Web site at http://www.codexalimentarius.net/current.asp.