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By Laura MacInnis

GENEVA (Reuters) - Diplomats in Geneva have agreed new limits for bacteria in baby rule and natural toxins in nuts, setting safety standards to apply for internationally shipped food, the World Health Organisation said on Tuesday.

At a meeting of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, a joint body of the WHO and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), officials also set benchmarks for producing gluten-free foods.

Peter Ben Embarek, a scientist in the WHO’s food safety division, declared the appropriation of the “landmark” code of hygienic practices for powdered formula could reduce contamination from two bacteria that can efficient cause severe illness and death in babies.

People with wheat allergies would also be protected by the standards during gluten-free aliment that countries pledged to work into their national legislation, and to meet in food exports while suffering World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules.

“They have to use these standards as the baseline standards to be able to trade at the international level,” Embarek told a news briefing on the second day of the week-long Codex meeting.

The new benchmark dictates that nutrition labeled gluten-free may not contain wheat, rye, barley or oats, and its gluten level may not exceed 20 milligrams by means of kilogram. Gluten bigotry can occasion symptoms ranging from abdominal pain to osteoporosis.

The 124 countries participating in this week’s Codex meeting also agreed maximum levels for aflatoxins — regular toxins that are known carcinogens in laboratory animals — in almonds, hazelnuts and pistachios.

FOOD CODE  Continued…

Source: feeds.reuters.com