Several countries, including China, Russia, and India, also oppose ractopamine use, said the communiqué.
The Codex Commission proposed a set amount of ractopamine to be considered safe for human consumption at the annual meeting of its 185 member countries (held 2-7 July). The United Nations (UN) created Codex to set international food quality and safety guidelines.
Codex based the limit on a risk assessment of acceptable levels of ractopamine consumption by a UN and World Trade Organization joint committee, said the European Food Safety Authority, which has rejected the findings because of claimed “weakness and uncertainties”.
Responding to a vote at the Codex Alimentarius Commission, the world’s global food standards body, a European Commission communiqué said it would continue to ban ractopamine in all 27 EU member states, in domestic meat production and in imports: “[The] EU bans imports of meat from certain countries because they use it [ractopamine], and we intend to continue to do so,” said Frédéric Vincent, a Commission health and consumer policy spokesperson.
