THE USER'S MANUAL ON CODEX - Department of Biotechnology

MODULE 14
THE USER’S MANUAL ON CODEX
A Contemporary Approach to Food Quality and Safety Standards
Food Additives, Contaminants,
Pesticide Residues and Residues
of Veterinary Drugs
INTRODUCTION
The procedural manual of the Codex Alimentarius Commission defines the terms ‘Food Additive’,
‘Contaminant’, ‘Pesticide Residue’ and ‘Residue of Veterinary Drugs’ and other related terminology.
The definitions of the terms referred to in this module are as follows.
Food additives mean any substance not normally consumed as a food by itself and not normally used
as a typical ingredient of the food, whether or not it has nutritive value; the intentional addition of which
to food for a technological (including organoleptic) purpose in the manufacture, processing, preparation,
treatment, packing, packaging, transport or holding of such food results, or may be reasonably expected
to result, (directly or indirectly) in it or its by-products becoming a component of or otherwise affecting
the characteristics of such food. The term does not include ‘contaminants’ or substances added to food
for maintaining or improving nutritional qualities.
Contaminants mean any substance not intentionally added to food, which is present in such food as a
result of the production (including operations carried out in crop husbandry, animal husbandry and
veterinary medicine), manufacture, processing, preparation, treatment, packing, packaging, transport
or holding of such food or as a result of environmental contamination. The term does not include
fragments, rodent hair and other extraneous matter.
Pesticide residue means any specified substance in food, agricultural commodities, or animal feed
resulting from the use of a pesticide. The term includes any derivatives of a pesticide, such as conversion
products, metabolites reaction products, and impurities considered to be of toxicological significance.
Veterinary drug means any substance applied or administered to any food-producing animal, such as
meat or milk-producing animals, poultry, fish or bees, whether used for therapeutic, prophylactic or
diagnostic purposes or for modification of physiological functions or behavior.
Residues of veterinary drugs include the parent compounds and/or their metabolites in any edible
portion of the animal product, and the residues of associated impurities of the veterinary drug concerned.
Codex standards in the areas of Food Additives, Contaminants, Pesticide Residues and Residues of
Veterinary Drugs are handled by the following Codex Committees:
k Food Additives and Contaminants: CODEX COMMITTEE ON FOOD ADDITIVES AND
CONTAMINANTS (CX-711).
k Pesticide Residues: CODEX COMMITTEE ON PESTICIDE RESIDUES (CX-718).
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