Food Law News - FAO/WHO/WTO/Codex - 1998

16-20 March 1998: COMMITTEE - Processed Fruits and Vegetables (19th Session)

Summary Meeting Report

Codex Committee on Processed Fruits and Vegetables
19th Session, Washington D.C., USA, 16-20 March 1998

The Committee:

• agreed to move toward the elaboration of generalized standards, and agreed to elaborate standards for canned stone fruits, canned citrus fruits, canned berry fruits, and canned vegetables (not including canned tomatoes or mushrooms), and a single standard covering jam, jellies and marmalades, to replace the relevant existing standards pending approval by the Executive Committee;
• recommended the Revised Draft Standards for Canned Applesauce and for Canned Pears for preliminary adoption by the Executive Committee of the Codex Alimentarius Commission;
• agreed that drafts of the standards for canned mangoes, canned pineapple, canned fruit cocktails, canned tropical fruit salad, canned chestnuts and chestnut puree, canned tomatoes, canned mushrooms, mango chutney, pickled cucumbers, table olives, processed tomato concentrates, dried apricots, dates, raisins, grated desiccated coconuts, unshelled pistachio nuts, dried edible fungi, and edible fungi and fungus products should be redrafted incorporating all the pertinent decisions made at the Session;
• agreed to elaborate guidelines for packing media for canned fruits and guidelines for packing media for canned vegetables, pending approval of the Executive Committee;
• agreed to seek approval of the Executive Committee to elaborate a standard for soy sauce which would cover fermented soy sauce;
• proposed a number of new methods and updated methods for the use for processed fruits and vegetables for consideration by the Member governments; and
• agreed that it would not be appropriate to undertake the conversion of the European Regional Standard for Vinegar into a worldwide standard in view of trade patterns and significant regional differences.