b'The Virtual Meeting mainly because certain delegations such asfant-baby formula so that uneducated and On September 24, 2020, as NHFs dele- Argentina and several other Latin Ameri- often illiterate mothers will be misled into gate, Ialong with 616 other Codex dele- can countries wanted to be involved in thebelieving that FUF is a natural progression gates and attendees from around the Worlddiscussion. So, ironically enough, the dis- in their childs diet. They also ask, alongused Zoom to convene for that first daycussion on just the discussion rights tookwithIndia,thattheinternationalresolu-of the virtual CAC meeting. Because of theconsiderable time. tionsoftheWorldHealthOrganization problem with 24 different time zones for theThen, in rapid-fire succession, the Com- (WHO)andtheWorldHealthAssembly planet-wide delegates, the meeting wouldmissionadoptedasnewworkaregion- (WHA) concerning infant-baby formula be only run for three hours a day, that is, fromalstandardforkavabeverages,soybeanincluded within the Scope section of this 12:00 noon until 3:00 p.m., Central Europe- products fermented with Bacillus species,Codexstandard.Yet,eachyeartheFUF an Time. Still, this timing proved to be dif- noni-fermented drinks, quick-frozen dump- standard supported by industry advances ficult for many delegates. California-basedlings,andcookedricewrappedinplantincrementally towards adoption despite all delegates,forinstance,hadtobeawakeleaves. Who would have thought that Co- objections, which objections are sometimes at 3:00 a.m. local time for the start of thedex would ever create standards for such adutifully noted in the Final Report of the meeting, which would then last until 6:00diverse range of prepared food? But, it does. meetings. This year was no different with a.m. For one of those meetings I was Cal- Asithascreatedstandardsforfreshthe standards Section B covering the pro-ifornia-based,soIexperiencedfirst-handgarlic, kiwifruit, ware potatoes, yams, andposed draft Scope, Definition, and labeling how inconvenient it could be to attend. But,food-allergenmanagementbybusinessbeing advanced by Codex up the 8-step lad-as Codex Secretary Tom Heilandt pointedoperators. All of these standards were ad- der towards adoption at Step 5.out, on the flip side, those same delegatesopted as final by Codex and there were no would benefit by not having to suffer frombattles over them. RUTFsthe jet lag of flying to Europe for this CACOne of Codexs noble goals is to estab-meeting. The Follow-up Formulalish guidelines for healthy Ready-to-Use Of course, holding a virtual meeting inStandard TherapeuticFoods(RUTFs),whichare place of an expensive, in-person meetingThere was, however, a battle over oneused to feed severely malnourished chil-in Rome will save Codex much money too.particular hot-potato issue, the Follow-updren (usually under the age of five). RUTFs With its savings, Codex plans to invest moreFormula(FUF)standard;andthismeet- are energy-dense, micronutrient-enriched into scientific advice and capacity building.ing was no exception to the many, previ- pastes(similarinconsistencytopeanut (You can listen to Tom Heilandt discussingous meetings at which this standard hasbutter) that are nutritionally similar to the thedisruptedmeetingsandreschedul- beendebated.Thedarling-favoriteofthetraditional milk-based diet used in inpa-ing, and some of Codexs plans, at https:// infant-formulaindustrycrowdandthetienttherapeuticfeedingprograms.Of-soundcloud.com/unfao/tomheilandt.) bte noire of the consumer organizationsten, RUTFs consist of peanuts, oil, sugar, Imyselfloggedontothemeetingthat flock every year to Codex specificallyand milk powder. Some of the ingredients early and it was a good thing that I had,towrestleoverthisissue,theFUFstan- are not what we would consider optimal-becauseZoomhadastrict500-attendeedard invariably consumes vast amounts ofly healthy (certain oils and sugar) but the limit imposed for this meeting and a goodCodex time. The International Baby FoodRUTFs do give an immediate sustenance number of country-delegation heads wereActionNetwork(IBFAN)andtheEuro- to children who would otherwise die. At frantically messaging the Codex Secretar- pean Network of Childbirth Associationsthis meeting, the Commission agreed to iat that they could not log on. Before the(ENCA), as well as other similar infant-for- advance the draft Guidelines for RUTFs openingspeecheswereallfinished,themula-orientedconsumerCodexINGOs,up the 8-step ladder towards their final Codex Secretariat had sorted the problemhave been fighting a steady, rear-guard ac- adoption.out by increasing the limit to one thou- tion on this standard, essentially arguingAt the last meeting of the Codex Com-sand attendees. that the FUF standard is to infant nutritionmittee on Nutrition and Foods for Special what CNN is to news. That is, Fake. Unnec- Dietary Uses (CCNFSDU), held in 2019 and A Smrgsbord of Issues essary. Misleading. It is, they say, simply awhere the RUTFs are discussed, NHF had Despiteallofthechangescausedbymoney-making scheme hatched by greedysuccessfullyexpressedtotheCCNFSDU the COVID-19 lockdowns, there was still amanufacturers who want to extend the in- delegates NHFs concern over the high ratio wide array of texts, standards, and guide- fant-formulamarketintothebabyslaterof calcium to magnesium (55 mg to 15 mg) lines for the delegates to discuss and agreeyears when, instead, the baby has becomein RUTFs as well as over the generally low upon,ifpossible.Amongthemwerethea growing infant who still needs mothersminimum and maximum levels being set final adoption of regional standards cover- milk and an increasing supply of nutritious,for magnesium, reminding everyone that ing cassava-based products and fresh Gne- nativefoodsandnotsomefactory-made,extensive science supporting higher levels tum spp. leaves as well as a regional stan- one-size-fits-all, corporate formula. exists and had been previously submitted dard in Africa for dried meat. Only the lastENCA and IBFAN especially decry theto CCNFSDU. I then proposed that the lev-one attracted much interest and that waslabeling of Follow-up Formula to mimic in- els for magnesium be doubled to be closer 6 H ealtHF reedomN ews /w iNter2020'