Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses

The next Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses (CCNFSDU) session will be held in South Africa from November 3 to 7, 2008. In addition, a working group will meet on November 1 to discuss agenda items on the Scientific Basis of Health Claims, Nutrient Reference Values, and any other matters related to the World Health Organization’s Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health which are under consideration by the CCNFSDU. The agenda for the upcoming session will be posted at the following web address, along with reference documents on each agenda item as they become available: http://www.codexalimentarius.net/web/current.jsp?lang=en.

CCNFSDU documents for certain agenda items are also available on the U.S. Codex Office Web site at:

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/regulations_&_policies/Codex_Committee_Nutrition/index.asp.

A Codex circular letter recently requested comments on the draft nutritional risk analysis principles and guidelines. U.S. interested parties are invited to submit comments to the CCNFSDU U.S. delegate for consideration in preparing U.S. comments by September 2, 2008. The mail-box for submission of these comments is CCNFSDU@fda.hhs.gov.

In addition, USDA and FDA are sponsoring a public meeting on Wednesday, September 24, 2008 from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. The objective of the public meeting is to provide information and receive public comments on the agenda items that will be discussed at the next CCNFSDU session and on draft U.S. positions. The public meeting will be held in the Auditorium (1A003), Food and Drug Administration, Harvey Wiley Federal Building, 5100 Paint Branch Parkway, College Park, MD 20740. To gain admittance to this meeting, individuals are required to pre-register by sending -Your Name - Organization - Mailing address - Phone number - E-mail address to this e-mail address (nancy.crane@fda.hhs.gov ) by September 17, 2008.