b'Sauces and Pesticides in increasing amounts every year. Chlorpyri- ever really was one) is over and has been After a 16-day hiatus, and with its at- fos, an organophosphate pesticide, is one of theover for months now, had case and death tendance having slipped down to 485 par- nastierones.Originallyderivedfromnervecounts that were wildly overinflated, and ticipants, the CAC43 meeting readjournedgas developed by Nazi Germany, it is now onethat there is no further need for postpon-on October 12, 2020, and quickly disposedof the most widely used agricultural pesticidesing or cancelling in-person Codex meet-ofanumberofdraftstandardsdealingin the United States. About 5 million poundsings. Needless to say, this was the only with the grain size of quinoa, chili sauce,of it are sold each year. As a result, traces of thesuch viewpoint expressed to the Codex mangochutney,driedfruits,pickledcu- chemical are commonly found in drinking wa- delegates, at least by an accredited par-cumbers, canned bamboo shoots, and go- ter, mothers milk, our bloodstream and urine,ticipant.chujang. The Codex Fish Committee wasand the foods we all eat. Children and animalsSince we can expect more such pan-reactivated as well but is to meet by cor- are especially vulnerable. The U.S. EPAs bi- demics in the futurethis pandemic respondence only. ological evaluation of Chlorpyrifos found theobviouslyhavingachieveditstruegoal With that out of the way, the Commis- pesticide is likely to adversely affect 1,778 ofofgettingcitizensaccustomedtobeing sion delegates then considered the addi- the 1,835 animals and plants accessed as parttightly controlledwe need a consensus tion of new work in the form of a Priorityof its study, including critically endangered oronhowtoproceedwhenthenextone List of Pesticides for Evaluation by JMPRthreatenedspecies.NHFthereforeasksthathits.Smallbusinessesandourpersonal [JointFAO/WHOMeetingonPesticideChlorpyrifos be removed from the list and anyfreedoms cannot be made victims to this Residues], which was one of the agendause, and that our concerns be reflected in theagain.items of most interest to the NHF. Unfortu- Report.nately, at Codex, one learns that any work- Incredibly,notoneotherparticipant ing group chaired by Australia is headedspoke out in support of our position. The for trouble since the Australian Codex Of- newworkwasapprovedandtheCom-fice is, in my opinion, nothing more than amission moved on to its next discussion. regional branch office for the pesticide in- Clearly, the Codex methodology is miss-dustry. Australia pushes greedy industrying some vital factor necessary for insur-interests and does not ever seem to giveing that toxic products such as these are a thought to protecting the health of evennotblithelyunleasheduponhumanity its own citizens, let alone the citizens ofand the World.the World.TheprioritylistsestablishedbythisThe Codex COVID-19workinggroupincludeatoxicbrewofResponsepesticidesrangingthegamutfromIso- Onitsfifthmeetingday,October19, flucypram(aBayerfungicidesprayed2020,theCommissiondiscusseditsIn-onwheat,oats,andothercerealgrains)termediateReportoftheSub-committee andChlormequat(anEastmanChemicalof the Executive Committee of the Codex plant-growthregulatorappliedtowheatAlimentariusCommission-Codexand andbarley)toFludioxonil(aSyngentathePandemic-StrategicChallengesand fungicide used on papayas, mangos, andOpportunities.Ofcourse,initsreport, bananas)andChlorpyrifos(agenotox- the subcommittee acknowledged the glob-ic pesticide long used around the World).al health risks presented by the pandemic Many of these pesticides have already beenand stated that there still remained many evaluated and revealed to have reproduc- challenges facing Codex as long as the risks tive-toxicityissues,amongmanyothers.continued,whichwouldrequirenew None of them have ever been evaluated fortools (e.g., virtual meetings) to be adopted their synergistic effects with any or all ofso as to accommodate the changed condi-the other pesticides, herbicides, toxins, andtions. It did, however, recommend that no contaminants in our foods. more meetings be cancelled or postponed. The new work on the pesticide priori- NHF responded to this COVID-19 re-ty lists was going to be approved withoutport with its written comments that can any objection until I spoke up for NHF. AsbeaccessedeitherontheCodexweb-a test, I picked the most odious of the pesti- site or the NHF website (https://thenhf.cides on the list Chlorpyrifosand askedcom/2020/10/12/nhfs-comments-on-to be recognized by the Chairman. Oncecovid-19-pandemic-crd-36/).NHFsfirm given the floor, I told my virtual audienceposition as stated to the Codex delegates that, Humanity is inundated with pesticideswas, and still is, that the pandemic (if it 8 H ealtHF reedomN ews /w iNter2020'