The National Nutrition Council, with financial support from Alive and Thrive, participated in the annual meeting of the Codex Committee on Nutrition and Food for Special Dietary Use (CCNFSDU) held in Dusseldorf, Germany from 24-29 November 2019. The NNC representative, Ms. Strawberry Alberto, was part of the Philippine delegation that was headed by Ms. Helena Alcaraz of the Food and Drug Administration, and included Ms. Michelle Mendador of the Infant and Pediatric Nutrition Association of the Philippines.
The annual meeting is authorized by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, jointly established by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
The main agenda in CCNFSDU41 was the Review of the Standard for Follow-up Formula (FUF) which was discussed in the first three days of the session.
During the session, there was extensive discussion on the scope, description and labelling sections of the Standard for FUF, particularly on keeping the text on “cross promotion”. The Philippines stood by its position on retaining the text but was not successful as majority of the members supported otherwise.
Another critical point was on the consideration of the definition of [name of product] for young children, particularly on the inclusion of the text “as a breast-milk substitute” in the definition. There was difficulty for the Committee to reach a consensus due to opposing views, with majority of the members supporting the deletion of the term “breast-milk substitute”. The Philippines proposed for the addition of a footnote to state the fact that these products are regulated as breastmilk substitutes in some countries. This was accepted by the committee and the Standard advanced to Step 5 for adoption by Codex Alimentarius Commission 43rd session (CAC43).
The CCNFSDU also agreed that milk products for children over 1 year of age – which often have more sugar and fewer required nutrients than breast milk substitutes – cannot be called “fortified milks” or “follow-up formulas”, with countries agreeing to two NEUTRAL, INFORMATIVE name options (image below).
CCNFSDU is a subcommittee of the Codex Alimetarius Commission (CAC) that is mandated to study specific nutritional issues assigned to it by the Commission. It is tasked to develop standards, guidelines or related texts for foods for special dietary uses, in cooperation with other committees where necessary. CCNFSDU work is essential as it deals with foods which are not consumed by the ones who buy them but which are bought for those who they care about most: infants and young children. The role of nutrition and health policies such as Codex in protecting the health of this vulnerable population is indeed very important. Nutritional gains during this first 1000 days period continue to benefit the child throughout life, while the damage from nutritional losses also lasts a lifetime.
The Philippines has its local CCNFSDU that is headed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). With members from the NNC and Infant and Pediatric Nutrition Association of the Philippines (IPNAP), the Philippine CCNFSDU reviews draft standards and prepares the Philippine position paper on the standards being reviewed by the global CCNSFDU.
The next meeting of the global CCNFSDU will be on 23-27 November 2020 in a still to be identified venue.
