AOAC SPIFAN Stakeholder Program Meeting Book (September 10, 2020)

Summary

Introduction ƒ Codex revising standard for follow up formula re: permissible level of sweetness ƒ AOAC asked by multiple stakeholders to advise Codex on methods of analysis Considerations ƒ Initial assessment suggests sweetness measurement complicated, not pragmatic ƒ Compliance verification, enforcement will be very difficult at country level Recommendations ƒ Form WG to assess analytical landscape for measuring sweetness ƒ Source WG members from carbohydrate expert groups w/in, outside AOAC ƒ Develop opinion paper on measuring sweetness and submit to Codex What AOAC needs from stakeholders ƒ Carbohydrate experts to participate in WG, write opinion paper

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134 th Annual Meeting & Exposition | September 8 – 24, 2020

Current Situation – Problem

What happened at CCNFSDU in Nov’19? ƒ Committee agreed to revise Codex std for follow-up formula (FUF; 12- 36 mo), specifying: • Footnote 5: “CHO sources that have no contribution to sweet taste should be preferred and in no case be sweeter than lactose” for products based on non-milk protein • Section 3.2.4 “Ingredients shall not be added w/ the purpose of imparting or enhancing a sweet taste of the product as defined in Section 2.1 (i.e. FUF for 12-36).” ƒ AOAC intervened on behalf of several industry sectors over concerns about measuring and enforcing sweetness objectively ƒ CCNFSDU agreed with AOAC, referred to CCMAS for guidance

CCMAS: Codex Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling CCNFSDU: Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses CHO: Carbohydrate

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134 th Annual Meeting & Exposition | September 8 – 24, 2020