The International Dairy Federation’s annual World Dairy Summit, held last month in Vilnius, Lithuania, also included business and committee meetings. Representing IDFA at the meetings were Clay Hough, senior group vice president; Cary Frye, vice president of regulatory and scientific affairs; and John Allan, vice president of regulatory affairs and international standards.

During the General Assembly meeting, Hough was elected to the IDF board of directors as the dairy processing sector representative. Frye was honored for completing her three-year term on the IDF board, while Allan continues to serve as deputy chair of the IDF Food Standards and Labeling Committee, which met to discuss action on several Codex standards.

Seeking Consensus on Codex Processed Cheese Standard

Members of the IDF Standing Committee on Standards of Identity and Labeling (SCSIL) reversed their previous position and decided to engage proactively with Codex Alimentarius Commission on the Draft General Standard on Processed Cheese. Committee members took action following Codex’s decision in July to advance the proposed standard to Step 6 and to hold another working group meeting to continue work toward finalizing the standard by the 2016 Commission meeting.

The SCSIL members agreed they would try to develop consensus on an alternative proposal for a standard that would be more beneficial for use in international trade than they consider the current Codex draft to be. The committee is aiming to arrive at consensus on an alternative that they can present at the upcoming Codex working group meeting in December. They also agreed to provide advice for determining the appropriate methods of analysis and the allowed food additives.  

Codex Dairy Permeate Powders Standard

SCSIL members also discussed extensively the proposed Draft Codex Standard for Dairy Permeate Powders, which includes descriptions and specifications for milk and whey permeate powders.  Members developed comments to send to Codex on several components of the standard, including product descriptions, permitted ingredients, additives, composition and methods of analysis. 

Other Issues

Additional Codex standards discussed by other standing committees included the Code of Hygienic Practice for Low-Moisture Foods, revision of the General Principles of Food Hygiene and Codex work on antimicrobial resistance and residues of veterinary drugs and other chemical contaminants. IDFA is represented on each of these standing committees.

For more details on the meeting, please contact Frye at cfrye@idfa.org or Allan at jallan@idfa.org.