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International outlook: labelling of foods derived from GMOs

International outlook: labelling of foods derived from GMOs. Masami Takeuchi, Ph.D. Food Safety Officer. Why label food ?. Nutrition facts Health claims Added value (marketing, religion, policy, preference): organic, halal, fair trade, eco-friendly, etc Potential allergen information

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International outlook: labelling of foods derived from GMOs

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  1. International outlook: labelling of foods derived from GMOs Masami Takeuchi, Ph.D. Food Safety Officer

  2. Whylabelfood? • Nutrition facts • Health claims • Added value (marketing, religion, policy, preference): organic, halal, fair trade, eco-friendly, etc • Potential allergen information • Information on additives • Right-to-know - GMOs

  3. Possibleissues of labelling • Information overload • Possible confusions (mis-lead consumers) • Language issue • Synonyms? • Right-to-know (at what level?) • Accuracy?

  4. FoodLabelling • Codex Committee on Food Labelling (CCFL) • More than 40 years • Meets every year • Next session: 21-24 Oct 2014 (Canada?) • http://www.codexalimentarius.org/committees-and-task-forces/en/?provide=committeeDetail&idList=7

  5. CCFL documents • General guidelines on claims (1991) • Guidelines on nutrition labelling (2013) • Guidelines for use of nutrition and health claims (2013) • General guidelines for use of the term Halal (1997) • Guidelines for the production, processing, labelling and marketing of organicaly produced foods (2013) • Compilation of Codex exts relevant to the labelling of foods derived from modern biotechnology (2011) – see CXG_07s.pdf • General standard for the labelling of prepackaged foods (2010) • General standard for the labelling of food additives when sold as such (1981) • General standard for the labelling of and claims for prepackaged foods for special dietary uses (1985)

  6. One line about GMO labelling • Risk management measures may include, as appropriate, food labellingconditions for marketing approvals and post-market monitoring. • [Paragraph 19 of the Principles for the Risk Analysis of Foods Derived from Modern Biotechnology (CAC/GL 44-2003)]

  7. International perspective • At the moment, there are no internationally-agreed recommendations on the food labelling of GM foods. • Governments are therefore applying their own regulations. • [see Questions about specific Codex work at http://www.codexalimentarius.org/faqs/specific-codex-work/]

  8. 2013 FAO Technical survey • Question: If your country has a specific labelling requirement for GM crops, please briefly describe key features of the requirement. Please select all that apply. • Answers: 75 countries – see Labelling.pdf

  9. Positive/Negative and Mandatory/voluntary • This product contains GMOs (positive) • This product does not contain GMOs (negative) • Retailer MUST label the product (mandatory) • Positive, negative or both • Retailer MAY label the product (voluntary) • Positive, negative or both

  10. Issue of thresholds • For both mandatory and voluntary labelling, there is a need to establish a threshold • Zero? • 0.9%? • 1%? • 5%? • Science-based? • Issue of LLP?

  11. Possibleforward-lookingprelim activities • Understand consumers • Demands and needs • Level of knowledge/understanding • Involve stakeholders • Industry associations • Academia • NGOs • Consider the government’s priorities and the feasible options

  12. Questions?

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