Codex Adopts Major Food Additive Changes
Over 500 GSFA Provisions Updated at CAC48
Rome: In a move that instantly grabs consumer attention, the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), the United Nations’ top food standards body, has banned bixin-based annatto (INS 160b(i)), a synthetic red-orange colour dye, from plain milk products worldwide. This dye was used to make yoghurt look “richer”. Now it is gone from the global standard.
This single revocation — part of a 500+ provision overhaul in the General Standard for Food Additives (GSFA) — signals Codex’s toughest crackdown yet on non-essential synthetic colours, and ends decades of artificial tint in everyday dairy.
Now, as your child’s yoghurt just got cleaner, parents, health advocates, and clean-label campaigners will see it as a direct win: no more artificial tint in children’s milk products, and no more hidden colours in kids’ breakfast.
The 48th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC48) has adopted a comprehensive set of global and regional food safety and quality standards that will directly affect international trade, consumer protection, and laboratory protocols. Meeting at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) headquarters in Rome from November 10 to 14, 2025, the Commission reviewed hundreds of provisions under the Joint FAO/World Health Organization (WHO) Food Standards Programme — a system charged with protecting consumer health and ensuring fair practices in the food trade.
More than 500 food additive provisions were reviewed as part of updates to the General Standard for Food Additives (GSFA, CXS 192-1995). The focus was on the use of colour additives across food categories. As a result, several provisions were revoked — notably, annatto extracts, bixin-based (International Numbering System 160b(i)) in plain fermented milks — while others were newly adopted, such as annatto extracts, norbixin-based (INS 160b(ii)) in canned or pasteurised fruit. Certain provisions, including erythrosine (INS 127) in canned raspberries and strawberries, remain under consideration. FAO and WHO officials emphasised that these revisions reaffirm Codex’s principle that additives must be safe and technologically justified, based on the risk assessment work of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA).
The Commission also revised its Code of Practice for the Prevention and Reduction of Aflatoxin Contamination in Peanuts (CXC 55-2004). Aflatoxins, among the most potent known liver carcinogens, have been the subject of Codex monitoring for more than two decades. The updated code now incorporates new agronomic information, including a table mapping peanut reproductive growth to define the optimal full-maturity harvesting stage. It also extends the scope of the text to animal feed, recognising that peanut by-products enter feed chains, and adds a new section on how roasting reduces aflatoxin levels. These additions reflect scientific advances in mitigating contamination risks at every stage — from pre-harvest and storage to processing and trade.
Furthermore, the Commission established maximum levels for lead in spices and culinary herbs in response to evidence of the neurotoxic and cardiovascular effects of lead exposure, particularly in children. The maximum limits (MLs) — now inserted into the General Standard for Contaminants and Toxins in Food and Feed (CXS 193-1995) — are set at 2.5 mg/kg for spices (dried bark such as cinnamon) and 2.0 mg/kg for dried culinary herbs. While these foods are typically consumed in small amounts, the decision underscores Codex’s preventive stance: even low exposure through highly traded commodities can pose cumulative risks to health and distort trade if standards vary by country.
In analytical terms, the adoption of guidelines for monitoring the purity and stability of reference materials and related stock solutions of pesticides during prolonged storage marks a technical breakthrough for regulatory laboratories. These guidelines establish a harmonised framework for testing whether reference materials (RMs) remain stable and pure beyond their expiry date, provided that purity is within acceptable limits. This scientific flexibility reduces recurring costs, waste, and supply-chain constraints — a growing concern for developing countries — and bolsters the credibility of pesticide residue analysis used to enforce maximum residue limits (MRLs) globally.
After a decade of work initiated in 2015, Codex has also adopted the long-awaited Standard for Fresh Dates, an outcome welcomed by date-producing and trading nations. It introduces internationally agreed minimum quality requirements and classification parameters for size, colour, shape, uniformity, and packaging. FAO officials noted that the standard will not only facilitate cross-border trade but also build consumer confidence by defining objective quality and safety parameters for one of the most commercially important crops in arid regions.
A regional standard for Castilla lulo (Naranjilla) — a nutrient-rich fruit native to the Andean region of Latin America — was also adopted for the Latin America and Caribbean region. The standard defines minimum quality criteria, permissible defects, labelling and hygiene provisions, and contaminant thresholds. By formalising quality guidance for a product with growing regional trade but limited international exposure, Codex strengthens intra-regional market access while safeguarding consumers.
Together, these decisions reflect the Commission’s widening mandate: combining risk-based scientific assessment with an effort to balance consumer safety and trade facilitation. The standards will now guide national authorities and industries in revising food regulations and analytical testing frameworks worldwide. As Codex officials observed, the CAC48 outcomes demonstrate how coordinated global standard-setting can support both health protection and economic development in a time of intensifying scrutiny of food systems.
The GSFA review addressed systemic gaps that had built up over 30 years. More than 20% of the 500+ provisions lacked current JECFA Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) validation. Many originated from pre-2000 commodity standards with outdated exposure models. The Codex Committee on Food Additives (CCFA) applied a three-tier filter: safety (JECFA ADI compliance), technological necessity (no viable natural substitute), and justification (consumer benefit vs. risk). This purge eliminates non-tariff trade barriers, potentially saving $500–800 million annually in rejected exports, according to the World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute records.
The aflatoxin code revision responds to persistent outbreaks. In 2023–2024, over 200 acute aflatoxicosis cases were reported in East Africa, linked to poor storage. The new harvest maturity table reduces pre-harvest vulnerability by 30–40%, per field trials in India and Nigeria. Roasting protocols degrade aflatoxin B1 by 70–80% under controlled conditions, offering a scalable intervention for smallholder processors.
Lead limits in spices target cumulative exposure in high-consumption regions. In South Asia, daily spice intake averages 10–15 g, pushing lead exposure near the WHO’s provisional tolerable weekly intake. The new MLs could prevent 50,000 disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) annually across the region, based on WHO burden-of-disease modelling.
The pesticide RM guidelines address a $100 million annual global lab spend on replacements. By allowing conditional extension beyond expiry (purity >98%), developing-country labs save 30–50% on procurement, enabling more frequent MRL compliance testing and reducing false positives in trade disputes.
The fresh dates standard supports a $2.5 billion export market dominated by Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Iran. Uniform grading reduces 15–20% post-harvest losses from rejection at destination ports. The Castilla lulo standard, adopted specifically for the Latin America and Caribbean region on November 10, 2025, during CAC48, while regional, sets a precedent for under-traded indigenous crops, potentially unlocking $50–100 million in new Andean export value by 2030. (Castilla lulo, a tropical fruit, is native to the Andean region, primarily Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and parts of Central America).
CAC48 outcomes are not voluntary recommendations — they are WTO-recognised references in trade disputes. Over 80% of global food trade aligns with Codex within five years of adoption. National regulators like India’s Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and Brazil’s ANVISA now face a 24-month window to transpose these into domestic law. Failure risks export bans and consumer health gaps. The session’s success hinges on capacity-building support — FAO and WHO have pledged $10 million in technical aid for 2026–2028 to help low-income members comply.
As CAC48 concludes on November 14, these standards represent a hard-won consensus among 189 members and 240+ observers. They prove Codex remains the global referee in food safety — but only if nations play by the rules.
