July 9, 2012

UN body approves standard for ractopamine use in livestock

An international standard for the employment of feed additive, ractopamine hydrochloride, has received approval by the Codex Alimentarius commission, a United Nations body which supports food safety and fair practices in trade.

The commission decided to adopt an acceptable daily intake (ADI) and maximum residue levels (MRLs) for pig and cattle muscle, fat, liver and kidney. Codex global food safety standards are designed to ensure that public health is protected and to facilitate the fair trade of safe food products by providing international food safety reference points for all countries.

Ractopamine has been evaluated and approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and has been approved for use in 26 countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Indonesia, Mexico, the Philippines and South Korea.

The EU, China, Taiwan and Thailand have prohibited the use of ractopamine as leanness-enhancing agent and currently ban imports of pork from pigs fed ractopamine.

A Codex panel of international scientists, including scientists from the EU, has repeatedly confirmed the safety of ractopamine, most recently in 2010 based on data from China.

The human safety of meat products derived from pigs and cattle fed ractopamine had been confirmed by the joint FAO/WHO expert committee on food additives (JECFA) in 2004, 2006 and 2010 and by 27 regulatory authorities from around the world.

The Codex Alimentarius commission is established by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and its World Health Organisation (WHO). These days, its 35th session is in place in Rome, Italy. Ractopamine is a feed ingredient used to promote leanness in pork and beef. It was the fifth time the UN body considered setting a maximum residue limit for ractopamine.

This Codex decision will become official when the report of the commission is finalised.