iThe 7th session of the Codex Committee on Spices and Culinary Herbs (CCSCH7), Chaired by India, was held in Kochi (Kerala), from 29 January to 2 February 2024 and was attended by a modest thirty-one delegations from Codex members, and by a single observer organisation.
SMALL CARDAMON (spices in the form of DRIED OR DEHYDRATED FRUITS AND BERRIES)
- Main outcome
CCSCH7 agreed to forward the draft Standard for Dried or Dehydrated Fruits and Berries – Small Cardamon, as a Codex alimentarius “commodity” standard, for its final adoption by the forthcoming (47th) meeting of the Codex alimentarius Commission (CAC47)2. The provisions on labelling and methods of analysis are sent to CCFL and CCMAS for their respective endorsement.
- Main points of discussion
CCSCH7 included various descriptions for each style of Small Cardamon (e.g., whole unopened capsule/pods as intact capsules/pods that have not lost seeds; opened capsule/pods, as capsules/pods having an opening not exceeding 1/3rd of the suture’s length and containing seeds; seeds, as obtained after opening of the capsules/pods; powdered seeds, as the powder obtained from grinding cardamom seeds; powdered whole capsule/pods, as the powder obtained from grinding whole/open capsules/pods with seeds). A new section on Sizing was added as Section 2.3 but left blank and as “optional”. A comprehensive table 1 in the Annex I of the standard describes the various chemical characteristics for small cardamon depending on each style (e.g., volatile oil) and table 2 in the same annex describes the physical characteristics, depending on styles and mixtures; while the particle size for small cardamon in powdered form was viewed as part of an agreement between business operators and not included in the standard. A comprehensive list of methods of analysis is provided in the Annex II of the standard and will be subject to endorsement by the next CCMAS43 (May 2024). In that regard, it was noted that only the two type 1 methods for the determination of adventitious presence of insects (on whole as per ISO 927 or in part as per AOAC 975.49) were sufficient for quality control purposes.
Country of harvest, Region of harvest and year of harvest were left optional, whereas country of origin is mandatory.
In that regard, CCSCH7 also clarified that it would now recognise the definition of country of origin as described in section 4.5 of the General Standard for the Labelling of Pre-packaged Foods (CXS 1, latest), that “When a food undergoes processing in a second country which changes its nature, the country in which the processing is performed shall be considered to be the country of origin for the purposes of labelling”. CCSCH7 recognized that this definition is applicable to any food commodity, including spices and culinary herbs.
Regarding the broader issue of the “country or harvest”, CCSCH7 recognized absence of any definition for ‘country of harvest’ in the Codex Alimentarius. However, in the glossary of terms for spices and culinary herbs, “harvest” was defined as the act or process of gathering agricultural crops. Based on this, the “country of harvest” could be viewed as “the country in which the gathering of the crops takes place”. Even though the country of origin and the country of harvest may be the same for many herbs and spices, these are two different terms. As such, CCSCH7 agreed to include these terms in its glossary of terms as it specifically applies to spices and culinary herbs.
ALLSPICE, JUNIPER BERRY AND STAR ANISE (as Part A of the standard on DRIED OR DEHYDRATED FRUITS AND BERRIES)
- Main outcome
CCSCH7 agreed to forward the draft standard for spices derived from dried or dehydrated fruits and berries – allspice, juniper berry and star anise, as a Codex alimentarius “commodity” standard, for its final adoption by the forthcoming (47th) meeting of the Codex alimentarius Commission (CAC47). The provisions on labelling and methods of analysis are sent to CCFL and CCMAS for their respective endorsement.
- Main points of discussion
The synonym “badian” was added for star anise. Sizing was left optional, but it was agreed that a reference to the method of determination of the size of the product e.g., diameter, by-count, weight, etc. could be provided on the label as well. Reference to “net weight (optional)” was deleted consistent with previous decisions on other CCSCH standard and the current provisions set in CXS 1 for all foods. Regarding the “chemical characteristics”, a common value of 0.5 ml/100g (minimum) for volatile oils for all styles of Juniper Berry was introduced, whereas a 12% moisture content was agreed for Allspice (consistent with alike ISO standard); whereas the draft requirement for non-volatile ether extract (%w/w) for style “ground/powdered” was deleted due to lack of clarity. Regarding the “physical characteristics”, several changes were made to All-spice (i.e., extraneous matters (%w/w (maximum)) and foreign matter (%w/w (maximum)) would each be 0.5 %w/w, and combined value of 0.5 % w/w was deleted; “other excreta” remained limited at 11 mg/kg (maximum)3; and requirements for “black, white and broken berries, berries with stem” and “off-size” (for style whole), and “crude fibre” (for style ground/powdered) were deleted); Juniper Berry (requirement for “off-size” (for style whole) deleted, all the other values for the different styles were approved); and, Star Anise (requirement for a “maximum number of fruit per 100g” in the style whole was deleted; and all the values proposed for different styles were approved). Two footnotes referring to “broken among the whole” and “excluding stalks” were also added.
TURMERIC (as part of the standard on DRIED ROOTS, RHIZOMES AND BULBS)
- Main outcome
CCSCH7 agreed to forward the draft standard for the proposed draft standard for dried or dehydrated roots, rhizomes and bulbs – turmeric, as a Codex alimentarius “commodity” standard, for its final adoption by the forthcoming (47th) meeting of the Codex alimentarius Commission (CAC47). The provisions on food additives, labelling and methods of analysis4 are sent to CCFA, CCFL and CCMAS for their respective endorsement.
- Main points of discussion
CCSCH7 agreed to use the term “dried or dehydrated turmeric” consistently throughout the document to ensure further alignment with what CCSCH had done for Ginger. Regarding styles of Turmeric, it noted that rhizomes of turmeric were composed of both primary and secondary (or branched) rhizomes, and that the latter were referred to as “fingers”, and thus the style “whole” was amended to state “whole or fingers of varying sizes, which may be cut at both ends with the flattened circular shape intact.” With regards to the labelling section ‘8.2.3’ to refer to “Trade name, variety or cultivar” on the label, CCSCH7 agreed to keep the word “may” in order to maintain “optional” the nature of the labelling requirement for “trade name, variety, or cultivar” on the label. That decision triggered the strong reservation of the European Union which explained earlier that, in their view, a mandatory provision (shall instead of may) would ensure that turmeric would be labelled correctly and not labelled with misleading names (e.g., yellow saffron) and that failing to provide the trade name, variety or cultivar on the label could lead to misunderstanding since trade name and common name might be different once the product is placed on the market.
With regards to chemical characteristics, several values were agreed upon (i.e., a 10% w/w (maximum) for moisture content for the style powdered/ground; an 8% w/w (maximum) total ash on dry basis for the styles whole and pieces-comprising various cut, diced, or sliced and a 10% for the style powdered/ground; a 1.5% w/w (maximum) acid insoluble ash on dry basis for the styles whole, pieces-comprising various cut, diced, or sliced and powdered/ground; and a 2% w/w (minimum) for curcuminoids contents (colouring power) on dry basis for the styles whole, pieces-comprising various cut, diced, or sliced and powdered/ground). For physical characteristics, several parameters were changed (i.e., the provision “insect damaged rhizomes [insect defiled rhizome]” was renamed to“insect defiled” and the provision “mould damage visible /insect defiled /infested” was renamed to “mould visible”; a defective rhizome requirement was introduced at 5% w/w (maximum) for the style “whole” and N/A for the styles “pieces-comprising various cut, diced, or sliced” and “powdered /ground”; a value set at 1% w/w (maximum) for “insect defiled” for the styles “whole” and “pieces-comprising various cut, diced, or sliced”; a value set at 3% w/w (maximum) for “mould visible” for the styles “whole” and pieces-comprising various cut, diced, or sliced; a value set at 0.5% w/w (maximum) for “extraneous matter” for the styles “whole” and “pieces-comprising various cut, diced, or sliced” and N/A for the style “powdered/ground”; a value set at 0.5% w/w (maximum) for “foreign matter” for the styles “whole” and “pieces-comprising various cut, diced, or sliced”; a reduced value for “whole insects, dead” from 4 (by count)/100 g (maximum) (as per CXS 343-2021) to 3 for the styles “whole” and “pieces-comprising various cut, diced, or sliced”, in accordance with the American Spice Trade Association (ASTA) specification; and a value set at 6.6 mg/kg (maximum) for “mammalian excreta” and “other excreta” for the styles “whole” and “pieces, comprising various cuts, diced, or sliced”, to align with CXS 343, noting the view of a Member that the value should be 11 mg/kg as per the ASTA specification and that an almost half reduction could potentially create trade barriers).
VANILLA (as part of the draft Standard on DRIED FRUITS AND BERRIES (PART B)).
- Main outcome
CCSCH7 agreed to forward the proposed draft standard for spices derived from dried or dehydrated fruits and berries – vanilla to CAC47 to advance it to the next step and it established an EWG, chaired by USA and co-chaired by Madagascar, Mexico and India, to consider the outstanding items, taking into comments submitted that will be submitted in response to a CL, as well as discussions held at CCSCH7. In view of the complexity of this topic, CCSCH7 acknowledged the possibility of organizing a virtual working group meeting prior to CCSCH8 to facilitate extensive communication on the outstanding issues. The list of outstanding issues related to the alternate term for “vanilla-caviar”; provisions for food additives; labelling requirements for country of harvest; and which option to be used for the table on chemical characteristics in Annex I of the standard.
- Main points of discussion
With regards to the determination of vanillin content, CCSCH7 noted that the testing was to be conducted on a wet basis, and that for the method ISO 5565-2 the text should refer either to an “extraction followed by HPLC” or an “extraction followed by UV- spectrophotometry” depending on the equipment available to use. The term “varieties” has been replaced throughout the document with “species” and the term “broken” was deleted throughout the document. In response to the position from a member that “exhausted vanilla beans” should not be covered by the standard, it was clarified that “exhausted” vanilla is a by-product of vanilla and therefore was excluded from the scope of the standard. As part of the styles, the terms “vanilla-caviar” was subject to diverging views and left in squared brackets (“Caviar” is a protected term typically associated with fish products and was defined in the Standard for Sturgeon Caviar (CXS 291-210) but “vanilla-caviar” was sometimes also described as “vanilla-supreme” (although not commonly used term) whereas “Vanilla-caviar” was an established product in global trade, widely recognized, and used worldwide). In Section 8.2.3 for the labelling of the name of the product referring to “Trade name, species, or cultivar may be listed on the label”, the term may is replaced by shall placed in squared bracket for future decision.
With regards to the county for harvest, there was still no agreement to keep it as “optional” given that it would be beneficial to have it mandatory. Region of harvest and year of harvest were left “optional”. For chemical characteristics, two different options were proposed while technical discussions occurred on Option 2 listing chemical characteristics per species and per classes for one of the species (instead of Option 1 per style but of the vanilla group as a whole). A moisture content range of 10 to 35 % w/w for “vanilla caviar” was added, noting that this range would be the same for all species of vanilla (values put in square brackets in line with discussion of the term “vanilla-caviar”). Per Vanilla planifolia (the species of “Bourbon vanilla”), classifications/grades, i.e., extra, I, II, and III, that were proposed for style “whole” were put in square brackets as no grading of the product was provided for in the draft standard itself.
For physical characteristics, the parameter “shriveled, immature, broken % w/w max” was deleted (as there was no definition for this parameter); the parameter “size tolerance” (other factors) was deleted (as there was no provision for this parameter and sizing was optional); the parameter “colour tolerance” (other factors) was put in square brackets (as there were no reference to these values); the newly introduced style “splits” and its associated values were placed in square brackets; and, the style “broken” was deleted (as it was not associated with vanilla and not included in section 2.2).
Future Work on Spices and Culinary Herbs
CCSCH7 agreed to embark into the development of new standards on sweet marjoram (initially proposed by Egypt); dried seeds – Coriander (initially proposed by India); large cardamon (initially proposed jointly by Bhutan and Nepal); and on cinnamon (initially proposed by Brazil). Each proposal is subject to an intersessional EWG respectively chaired by Egypt; India, and Iran; Bhutan, Nepal, and India; and, Brazil and Indonesia, Iran, and Mexico.
The proposal on the development of a standard for dried roots, rhizomes, bulbs – galangal; greater galangal; lesser galangal; horseradish root; onions and shallots needed further work especially the provision of trade data and in view of the existing workload of CCSCH, USA agreed to resubmit its proposal to the next session (CCSCH8) while recognizing the difficulty in obtaining sufficient disaggregated trade data to support new work proposals in this area. As such, the USA also volunteered to prepare a discussion paper on (customs codes based) world trade data availability about spices and culinary herbs to facilitate the deliberations by CCSCH8.
The more holistic work on a revised template for spices and culinary herbs was deferred to the next session; whereas all countries were invited to consider the work in progress presented by the USA on CRD 325.
All Codex texts elaborated by the CCSCH and currently ‘in force’ are all compiled at https://www.fao.org/fao-who-codexalimentarius/committees/committee/related-standards/it/?committee=CCSCH
CCSCH7 report is to be accessible at https://www.fao.org/fao-who-codexalimentarius/sh-proxy/en/?lnk=1&url=https%253A%252F%252Fworkspace.fao.org%252Fsites%252Fcodex%252FMeetings%252F-CX-736-07%252FReport%252FFinal%252520Report%-252FREP24_SCHe_compiled.pdf
All CCSH7 working documents, as well audio recording of the session, are available at https://www.fao.org/fao-who-codexalimentarius/meetings/detail/en/?meet-ing=CCSCH&session=7
2 CAC47 is to be held in Geneva the last week of November 2024.
3 A member pointed out that the maximum value of 11mg/kg for “other excreta” and 11mg/kg for “mammalian excreta” for allspice, style “whole”, was not acceptable from a general hygienic standpoint and was not consistent with the relevant ISO standard nor in line with other CCSCH standards.
4 It was noted that validated methods were not available for the determination of defective rhizomes, and that this parameter was determined by visual examination. CCSCH7 also agreed to insert the hyperlink for the methods for determining mammalian or/and other excreta; and include ISO 2825 as a complementary method to ISO 5566 for determining curcuminoids content (colouring power).
