Codex Approves Draft Guideline with Safety-based Content Limits

GENEVA--The Codex Alimentarius Commission approved a draft guideline that would set upper limits for nutrient content in dietary supplements based on safety alone. The draft guideline was ratified during the Codex meeting held June 28 to July 3 in Geneva. It was recommended by the Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses (CCNFSDU) last November following years of negotiation between those supporting the safety-based model and those preferring that content limits be based on Recommended Daily Allowances (RDAs).

"We in the industry have long maintained that maximum levels set by Codex or governments for contents of vitamins and minerals in supplements should be based solely and completely on safety, not on nutritional policy in general or the Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) in particular," said Mark LeDoux, chairman of the Council for Responsible Nutrition's (CRN) International Trade and Market Development Committee and a board member of CRN (www.crnusa.org). "In agreeing to this standard's progress today, Codex has taken a giant step toward ensuring that consumers will have access to dietary supplements based on clear and fair, scientifically supportable criteria."

CRN and other dietary supplement industry organizations have long urged approval by the Codex Alimentarius Commission for promulgation of this guideline. The full report given by the CCNFSDU at the Codex meeting is available at ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/meeting/008/j1464e.pdf

Codex Alimentarius, established under the joint supervision of the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO) in 1962, establishes standards that serve as models for regulation by the 170 member countries. Its decisions are used by the World Trade Organization in deciding disputes between member countries.