CODEX COMMITTEE ON NUTRITION AND FOODS FOR SPECIAL DIETARY USES (CCNFSDU) Draft Standard for Foods for Older Infants and Young Children Baby Milk Action attends Codex either as IBFAN, ENCA or sometimes as IACFO. Here are the comments that…
WHO EB 156: funding, governance, Digital Marketing, emergencies
156th WHO Executive Board Meeting Feb 3-11th UPDATE ON THE DIGITAL MARKETING RESOLUTION A Draft Decision Regulating the digital marketing of breast-milksubstitutes proposed by 21 Member States (Armenia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Iraq,…
Thailand Bans Advertising for Toddler Milk
Regulation Thailand Bans Advertising for Toddler Milk by Heather Vogell Dec. 24 2024 With new rules, Thailand joins three dozen countries that have taken steps to regulate toddler milk ads. The action follows a ProPublica investigation that detailed how the…
Codex opens the door to exploitation of emergencies – Australian example
47th Codex Alimentarius Commission 25/11/2024 – 30/11/2024 | Geneva, Switzerland Here are some of IBFAN’s statements Agenda Item 5: Labelling Exemptions in Emergencies:IBFAN warned that without extra safeguards, the new Codex Guidelines would open the door to commercial exploitation. A…
Plastic Treaty fails: can Codex change and prioritise human and planetory health?
Plastic Treaty fails: can Codex change and prioritise human and planetary health? IBFAN interventions at CAC 47 – Video clips Webcasting of all sessions Documentation of CAC47. Participants Draft Report Stop Press: Sidney Morning Herald investigation into the donations and…
Codex dodges climate crisis and begins a risky emergency guideline
IBFAN interventions at CAC 47 – Video clips PHOTOS above all copyright © FAO/Roberto Sciotti Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC47) 25/11/2024 – 30/11/2024 Geneva, Switzerland WEBCAST DRAFT REPORT Participants Codex Executive Committee (CX/EXEC 87) 18 – 22 November 2024…
Life long risks of sugars in baby foods and double standards prompt calls for transparency and regulation.
The harm caused by manufacturers of sweet processed baby foods is at last being exposed and prompting calls for transparency and regulation. Researchers from the University of Southern California (31.10.24) have found that cutting sugar in the first 1,000 days…
IBFAN protecting children again from sweetened UPFs in Codex
Codex PRESS RELEASE IBFAN comments on agenda items 6.2.6.21,8 At the 44th session of the Codex Nutrition meeting in Germany next week (CCNFSDU44) – IBFAN will be once again fighting to protect children from harmful, sweetened, Ultra-Processed, plastic-wrapped products and…
Danone lobbies New Zealand to weaken labelling controls
Food giant warns 441 jobs and $1b of exports at risk from infant formula labelling plan Waikato Times – 22 July 2024 Tom Pullar-Strecker French multinational Danone has warned 441 jobs in Auckland and Otago and $1 billion in annual…
COMPILATION: Codex Press Releases and comments
Latest news: CODEX COMMITTEE ON NUTRITION AND FOODS FOR SPECIAL DIETARY USES (CCNFSDU) Electronic Working Group (EWG) on a Draft Standard for Foods for Older Infants and Young Children ENCA comment EWG on Processed foods for IYCF Codex Press…
Digital Marketing is out of control -a WHA Resolution is urgently needed
Digital Marketing is out of control – a Resolution is needed to protect mothers and babies WHO 154th Executive Board, WHO HQ Geneva, 22 27 January- 2024. 2024 is a reporting year for Maternal, Infant and Young Child Nutrition (MIYCN) Digital…
EU bans misleading and unproven ‘greenwashing’ terms
EU agrees directive banning misleading use of environmental claims on many products Terms such as ‘environmentally friendly’ and ‘biodegradable’ to be banned unless proved by an authority Kevin O’Sullivan Wed Jan 17 2024 – 14:04 https://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/2024/01/17/eu-agrees-directive-banning-misleading-use-of-environmental-claims-on-many-products/ An EU directive targeting…
2023:Codex green-lights wasteful, sweetened Ultra-Processed drinks for older babies
2023 Codex green-lights wasteful, sweetened, Ultra-Processed drinks for older babies 46th Codex Commission meeting: 27.11.23 – 2.12.23 Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Rome March 23 Nov 22 FINAL REPORT List of participants WEB-STREAM IBFAN has been attending the 46th…
Baby Milk Action comments on UK trade strategy.
UK accession to Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) Inquiry Following the announcement of the UK’s accession on 16 July, the UK International Agreements Committee is reactivating its inquiry into CPTPP and is gathering new evidence, regarding the…
Will bogus sustainability claims on processed foods save the planet?
Will bogus sustainability claims on processed foods save the planet? GREENWASHING Codex will discuss Sustainability Labelling in Canada this coming week. We know that the corporate-driven food system is wrecking planet, but will bogus, unmonitored sustainability claims make things worse or better? IBFAN…
May 2023 Codex labelling: will ‘sustainability’ claims boost trade of harmful products?
May 2023 Codex Labelling: will ‘sustainability’ claims boost trade of harmful products? The 47th Codex Committee on Food Labelling (CCFL) will meet in Ottawa, Canada May 15 to 19 2023. The Session will also be broadcasted in listening mode in…
March 2023 Codex decides on ultra-processed baby drinks
March 2023 After 10 years of struggle, Codex puts child health before trade at last. 6-10th March, 2023, Dusseldorf IBFAN, WHO, UNICEF and partners breathed a sigh of relief today at the Codex Nutrition Committee in Dusseldorf. After 10 years…
UK Parliament debate on Lancet Breastfeeding series
April 2023 Thanks to Barbara Crowther for telling us that the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld a case of Kendamil marketing which breached the code and conflated infant formula and follow on milks, as well as making inappropriate health…
Codex: RUTF Guidelines adopted but no Zilpaterol conclusion
Top: QU Dongyu, Director-General of FAO, far left, opens the CAC45. The UK’s Steve Wearne, centre, in the Chair for the first time. Below: Member states watch the screen for the controversial vote on Zilpaterol, the drug used to promote…
Codex principle on Science
There was discussion on this document which is STILL in draft and not agreed. The issue of Consensus is a thorny issue for Codex. https://www.fao.org/fao-who-codexalimentarius/codex-texts/procedural-manual/sections/appendix/appendix1/en/ Statements of Principle Concerning the Role of Science in the Codex Decision-Making Process and the…
Should animals be pumped with growth drugs to increase growth and global trade?
Should animals be pumped with growth drugs – just to increase global trade? Codex Alimentarius Commission 21-25 November 2022 Rome, Italy Web streaming link:HERE IBFAN Zilpaterol statement PDF While the rest of the world is, at last, waking up to…
COP27 – Can lessons be learned and the UPF trade controlled?
COP27 – Can lessons be learned and the UPF trade controlled? Extinction Rebellion mass ‘nurse-in’ . Westminster, London October 2019 Photo: Helena Smith IBFAN Cop 27 ENG IBFAN COP27 ES COP27 – IBFAN FR As world leaders meet in Sharm El-Sheikh,…
Weak global trading standards and the climate crisis – why Codex must step up
Weak global trading standards and the climate crisis – why Codex must step up Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC45) 21-25th November 2022 – in Rome and on line. Click here for the Codex agenda and papers and PAGE DOWN for comments.…
CODEX FOLLOW-UP FORMULA STANDARD MUST HAVE STRONG SAFEGUARDS
Photo: IDEC, Brazil: Products for babies 6-36 months at the centre of the Code trade debate. These unnecessary, sweetened, flavoured, ultra-processed milk drinks for young children are cross-promoted with infant formula for newborn babies. IDEC sues Nestlé, Mead Johnson and…
Governments must control their unethical corporations
Governments should control their unethical corporations In June 1992, following the adoption of the first EU Directive on marketing of breastmilk substitutes (infant formula and follow-up formula) in the internal market, the EU adopted an Export Directive (requiring labels in…
Undue corporate influence at Codex
Danone and Croplife in evidence at Codex 2021 Concern about unhealthy UN partnerships: Codex is a joint United Nations body created in 1963 by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to develop food standards,…
Baby food industry lobbies to weaken Codex standards on sweetness and flavouring
Baby food industry lobbies to weaken Codex standards on sweetness and flavouring Unhealthy UN partnerships: The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) are the parent bodies of the Codex Alimentarius Commission. In 2021 FAO adopted…
2021: Codex Commission unable to reach Consensus on growth hormone
CODEX COMMISSION (CAC44) November and December 2021 Interventions made by IBFAN and ENCA: CAC44. Agenda Item 8 – (Matters arising from FAO and WHO) Thanks WHO for its work on COVID and breastfeeding and its celebration of the 40th Anniversary of…
IBFAN concerns about vulnerable groups and food safety
IBFAN to Dr. Branca Final 27.10.21 Agenda Item 8.3 Codex Alimentarius Commission November 2021 IBFAN Food Safety Statement 2020 Dr Francesco Branca Director Nutrition and Food Safety World Health Organization Avenue Appia 20 1211 Geneva 27 Switzerland 27th September 2021…
GLOBAL TRADE: Safer labelling on baby foods and drinks urgently needed
IBFAN FUF comment IBFAN RUTF comment IBFAN COMMENT FOPN IBFAN ENCA CRD 46th CCFL 3 Governments must take the lead on public health policies: Safer labelling for baby drinks and foods urgently needed. 46th Codex Committee on Food Labelling IBFAN…
Food Standards Agency International Conference
I attended the Food Standards Agency International conference today. (note that the FSA is no longer responsible for nutrition in England and Wales) Supporting an evolving world – International co-operation and regulation Chair: Steven Wearne, Vice Chair at Codex…
CFS47 Statements made by Member States, the UN and others
Some notable Excerpts from Statements made on February 10th 2021 WHO (and UNICEF) In the context of the negotiation we have expressed the concern that, in the spirit of compromise the text of the Voluntary Guidelines does not fully reflect…
The Code and other safeguards threatened by UN Voluntary Guidelines on Food
The Code and other safeguards threatened by corporate friendly Voluntary Guidelines on Food Systems and Nutrition. 2021 The Plenary session of the UN Committee on Word Food Security (CFS47) ended on the 11th February, after several weeks of intense…
Codex developments: Follow on Formula, RUTF, Biofortification
43rd Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission. (CAC). 24/09/2020 – 06/11/2020 Virtual, See Press Release from last Year: CODEX: Exporting countries put trade before the health of the planet and children. See previous Blog with links to our detailed comments.…
Codex ignores risks to health and the planet of the global trade of ultra-processed foods.
Codex boosts the trade of UPFs, ignoring the risks to health and the planet. The 43rd Codex Commission (CAC43) is meeting this week ( 24, 25, 26 September) and will discuss some important issues. Thankfully, CAC is much more…
Conflicts of Interest concerns about three members of WHO’s new High-level Commission on NCDs
In response to the call for comments on WHO’s proposals for an Independent Global High-level Commission on NCDs I sent the comments below, outlining our serious concerns about the appropriateness of three of the proposed Commissioners, who will have an ‘advisory’ role: Arnaud…