21 April 2026, China: The 56th session of the Codex Committee on Food Additives (CCFA) has concluded in Chongqing, China, having seen discussions on a wide range of topics. These included the regular agenda items of endorsement, alignment, changes to the General standard for food additives (GSFA, CXS 192-1995) and International Numbering systems and the priority list, as well as additional items such as a standard for baker’s yeast.
Upon report adoption, the Chairperson, Dr Fan, thanked all those involved in the smooth running of the meeting, in particular the chairs of the respective working groups. He particularly pointed out that at least 60 participants had joined virtually, in the first ever CCFA meeting to offer that possibility. “Despite the distance, your valuable contributions have greatly enriched our discussion,” he said to the online delegates.
The Committee discussed recommendations of the 100th meeting of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) and agreed to forward revised and new full specifications for food additives to CAC49 for adoption.
The discussions on endorsement and/or revision of maximum levels for food additives and processing aids in Codex standards were based on the 21 recommendations detailed in the report of the related physical working group (PWG), which met immediately prior to the plenary sessions of CCFA56. That the PWG had discussed and reported on these items eased the plenary discussions and CCFA56 was able to broadly agree on the endorsement and alignment actions recommended by the PWG.
In relation to alignment of the food additive provisions of commodity standards and relevant provisions of the GSFA, the Committee agreed to forward to CAC49 for adoption revised food additive sections in three standards of the Coordinating Committee for Africa (CCAFRICA) (CXS 334R-2020, CXS 335R-2020, and CXS 350R-2022), two standards of the Coordinating Committee for North America and the South West Pacific (CCNASWP) (CXS 336R-2020 and CXS 356R-2023), and the Codex Committee on Cocoa and Cocoa Products (CCCCP) Standard for cocoa butter (CXS 86-1981). There was also agreement on revised provisions of the GSFA in relation to the alignment of the same three CCFARICA standards, two standards of the Coordinating Committee for Latina America and the Caribbean (CCLAC) (CXS 304R-2011 and CXS 305R-2011), and the same two CCNAWSP standards. There was also agreement on the General standard for fruit juices and nectars (CXS 247-2005) and the revised food additive provision for steviol glycosides.
CCFA56 also agreed to forward to CAC49 the draft and proposed draft food additive provisions of the GSFA for adoption, as well as food additive provisions of the GSFA for revocation or discontinuation. Looking ahead, the Committee also agreed on the work for a re-established EWG on the GSFA, which will consider, amongst other things, provisions for nitrates (INS 251, 252) and nitrites (INS 249, 250).
In addition to the above, the Committee discussed and agreed upon proposed draft revisions to the Class names and the international numbering system for food additives (CXG 36-1989) and these will be forwarded to CAC49 for adoption.
A discussion on the report of the update on the mapping of food categories in the GSFA to the FoodEx2 database resulted in agreement to publish the GSFA FoodEX2 mapping document as an information document.
During the meeting, the Codex Secretariat presented the progress made on restructuring and updating the GSFA database, which is taking place as part of a larger Codex website migration project.
The Committee also agreed to forward the draft standard for baker’s yeast to CAC49 for adoption. This work represented the first commodity standard fully elaborated by CCFA in which the food additive provisions were developed, endorsed and aligned with the GSFA simultaneously.
The Committee further discussed a paper on draft working practices for the development of GSFA food additive provisions relevant to commodity standards and related templates, as presented by China, and agreed to adopt these practices as the basis for avoiding future divergence between food additive provisions in the GSFA, commodity standards, and other related Codex texts.
Other discussions involved the proposal to develop a guideline for the conduct of food safety assessment of cell culture media components used in the production of cell-based foods. On this, the Committee determined that further consideration is needed and agreed to establish an EWG chaired by Singapore and co-chaired by China and the Republic of Korea, to review the scope of such a guideline, and determine areas where joint FAO/WHO scientific advice would be required to support the work.
A further discussion centred on the future of CCFA work and how the Committee will address implementation challenges related to the GSFA, and in particular, the food category system and Notes associated with food additive provisions.
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