GovWire

The Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling held its 37th Session in Budapest, Hungary, from 22 to 26 February 2016. The Session was attended by 47 Member countries, 1 Member Organization and Observers from 17 international organizations.

Selvarani Elahi, representing the UK Government Chemist, attended as part of the UK delegation together with colleagues from the Food Standards Agency and the Association of Public Analysts.

The meeting considered methods of analysis for Codex standards and testing in relation to international food trade. Participants discussed analytical methods for safety issues, including allergens, mycotoxins and marine biotoxins, and food quality. Sampling plans, measurement uncertainty, equivalency of methods, method performance criteria for multi-component methods and criteria for biological methods were also discussed in order to reach a global consensus on the best approaches to use.

The meeting notes are available.

The 38th session will be held in September 2017.

Under UK law, local authorities and food business operators can call upon the Government Chemist to arbitrate technical disputes on analytical or interpretational issues in food analysis. Incorrect sampling, analysis or interpretation can lead to disputes, and it is therefore important that the Government Chemist contributes to and keeps abreast of international Codex developments.

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