The Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) was created in 1963 by two UN organizations, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Its main purposes are to protect the health of consumers and to ensure fair practices in international trade in food through the development of food standards, codes of practice, guidelines and other recommendations. Codex standards and guidelines are developed by committees, which are open to all UN member countries. Member countries review and provide comments on CAC standards and related texts at several stages in the development process. Although the acceptance of CAC standards and related texts are voluntary, most member countries keenly follow the CAC adoption of a food ingredient.
