Loading ...Below you will find a portion of what is in the Codex Alimentarius code, set to go live at the end of 2009. Please read it and let it sink in for a bit.
Code of Ethics for International Trade in Food
GENERAL PRINCIPLES
4.1 International trade in food should be conducted on the principle that all consumers are entitled to safe, sound and wholesome food and to protection from unfair trade practices.
4.2 No food should be in international trade which:
(a) has in it or upon it any substance in an amount which renders it poisonous, harmful or otherwise injurious to health; or
(b) consists in whole or in part of any filthy, putrid, rotten, decomposed or diseased substance or foreign matter, or is otherwise unfit for human consumption; or
(c) is adulterated; or
(d) is labeled, or presented in a manner that is false, misleading or is deceptive; or
(e) is sold, prepared, packaged, stored or transported for sale under insanitary conditions.
If this is true then the turn of this year will be the start of something big. If so then then I think that there are going to be a lot of lawsuits going on! If these “principles of ethics” imply what I think they do, then we “should” have no more fake, dirty, toxic or mislabeled foods being imported into the US from any country. I have to take this with a grain of salt though, because most foods in the US these days would not pass this checklist of safe foods being imported in. It would take an emense restructuring of many systems and product lines in order to accomplish these feats. Not only this but it would take even more to get our products in the US to be exported to other countries affected by the Codex rule. for instance, I don’t think our beef industry could even check any of those off the list! Any foods that have chemicals have documented proof to be “harmful to health”. Any foods that have been altered aren’t “fit for human consumption”. All foods that aren’t in the natural state while being unprocessed are “Adulterated”. Most foods on the shelf today are labeled in a way as to mislead and deceive you as to what they contain.
Until I know the facts then I am not sure which way I will swing about Codex, but if it is to be then I hope Codex does implement something as strict as this with Trade, and actually enforces it. It would be a big step to a healthier future.