Codex Alimentarius: International Food Standards

The Codex Alimentarius Knowledge Hub is the official, global open-access platform for international food safety, quality standards, and codes of practice established by the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC)—a joint body of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Formed to protect consumer health and ensure fair practices in global food trade, the Codex Alimentarius serves as the recognized international benchmark under the World Trade Organization (WTO) SPS Agreement. The portal provides searchable online databases covering maximum residue limits (MRLs) for pesticides and veterinary drugs, general standards for food additives (GSFA), regional food specifications, and contaminants in food and feed. Key foundational texts include the General Principles of Food Hygiene, Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) operational frameworks, food labeling guidelines, and risk analysis principles across biotechnology, nutrition, and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Serving as a critical open educational resource, this FAO/WHO platform offers indispensable legal texts, scientific risk assessment reports, and international safety frameworks for undergraduate and postgraduate students, food scientists, agricultural engineers, public health administrators, and trade lawyers studying food safety governance, agricultural economics, international trade law, and food microbiology.