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The History of International Food Safety Standards and the Codex Alimentarius (1955-1995)

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The History of International Food Safety Standards and the Codex Alimentarius (1955-1995) The History of International Food Safety Standards and the Codex Alimentarius (1955-1995) by Brigit Lee Naida Ramsingh A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Institute for the History & Philosophy of Science & Technology University of Toronto © Copyright by Brigit Ramsingh 2011 ii The History of International Food Safety Standards and the Codex Alimentarius (1955-1995) Brigit Ramsingh Doctor of Philosophy Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology University of Toronto 2011 Abstract Following the Second World War, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) teamed up to construct an international Codex Alimentarius (or “food code”) in 1962. Inspired by the work of its European predecessor, the Codex Europaeus, these two UN agencies assembled teams of health professionals, government civil servants, medical and scientific experts to draft food standards. Once ratified, the standards were distributed to governments for voluntary adoption and implementation. By the mid-1990s, the World Trade Organization (WTO) identified the Codex as a key reference point for scientific food standards. The role of science within this highly political and economic organization poses interesting questions about the process of knowledge production and the scientific expertise underpinning the food standards. Standards were constructed and contested according to the Codex twin goals of: (1) protecting public health, and (2) facilitating trade. One recent criticism of Codex is that these two aims are opposed, or that one is given primacy over the other, which results in protectionism. Bearing these themes in mind, in this dissertation I examine the relationship between the scientific and the ‘social’ elements embodied by the Codex food standards since its iii inception after the Second World War. I argue that these attempts to reach scientific standards represent an example of coproduction– one in which the natural and social orders are produced alongside each other. What follows from this central claim is an attempt to characterize the pre-WTO years of the Codex through a case study approach. The narrative begins with a description of the predecessor regional group the Codex europaeus, and then proceeds to key areas affecting human health: 1) food additives, 2) food hygiene, and 3) pesticides residues. iv Acknowledgments This research began in Rome, the writing started in Toronto, and the completion occurred in Berlin, and so there are many colleagues, mentors and friends to thank for their help along the way. First, I am greatly indebted to the guidance and support of my thesis supervisor, Pauline Mazumdar. Had we not met on that fateful day years ago in the elevator at the Institute for the History & Philosophy of Science & Technology (IHPST) in Toronto, where she encouraged me to return to do a thesis on the Codex Alimentarius, this project may never have come to fruition. She has taught me how to be an historian, and I am forever grateful for her mentorship, not to mention the memorable trips to EURAS. I am lucky to have had the opportunity to work with her not only for this project but also as a teaching assistant for her undergraduate history of medicine courses. Lucia Dacome has been a most wonderful co-supervisor and reliable source of feedback. She has offered helpful support throughout both the writing and administrative processes and has also reminded me of broader historiographic issues that have enriched this work. I have learned a great deal from her, not only from this project, but also from sitting in on her graduate seminars that exposed me to wider selection of literature and approaches in the history of medicine. I am honoured to have had the guidance of Harriet Friedmann throughout the course of this project. Her knowledge of food systems and sociology of food has pointed me in the right direction at every step of the way and I thank her not only for the depth and richness of her knowledge on the topic, but also for her enthusiasm, interest and perspective which kept me afloat as I waded through archival material, finding my way out of the murky depths of the details to get a sense of the bigger picture in which the Codex emerged. v Ross Upshur has also been a trustworthy advisor and wonderful presence on this committee, not only for his pragmatism but also for his sense of humour. He has helpfully urged me to think of my goals and overall argument, and these elements were valuable in helping me to push toward the finish. Finally, I am extremely grateful to Professor David Smith from the University of Aberdeen for his thorough and helpful reading of this dissertation and for providing a rigorous External Examiners report, as well as cogent questions during the oral examination. I am fortunate to have received assistance from several Canadian and German funding sources. This research was made possible thanks to the financial support of The Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), The Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS), and the Lupina Foundation (which provides funding to the Comparative Program on Health and Society at the Munk Centre for International Studies at the University of Toronto), and the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin. I have benefited from feedback and discussions with various colleagues from the History of Medicine and related fields. First and foremost, I am proud to have started my work at the Institute for the History & Philosophy of Science & Technology (IHPST) at the University of Toronto. The students and colleagues in this department have consistently fostered and maintained a stimulating and ‘intellectually-nourishing’ environment, which I am fortunate to have benefited from. I am thankful to the CPHS and its fellows for the opportunity to present this work in 2007 as part of their colloquia series. I am also grateful to the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science and its Predoctoral discussion group, and in particular, Lorraine Daston and Fernando Vidal for comments on the hygiene chapter. At the Charité Institut für Geschichte der Medizin, I am indebted to colleagues such as Ulrike Thoms, Frau Stefanie Voth and Frau Sabine Selle for their support, especially during the final stages of this project. I am also grateful for the encouragement from and the opportunity to discuss this work with colleagues Ximo Guillem Llobat and Patrick Zylberman. vi I shall never forget my time at the FAO archives, made all the more enjoyable thanks to the hospitality and warm welcome of the team of hard-working men in the records department in Rome: Giuliano Fregoli, Enrique Anton, Nicola, Maurice, Leonardo and Albert. I thank you all for the macchiatos, limoncello, the Spaghetti alle Vongole, the David Bowie caricatures, and the imitation Lacoste t-shirt. I am also indebted to the team at the World Health Organization, especially Fiona Fleck, who helped to make my stay there as part of the Bulletin of the World Health Organization editorial group possible. I am also thankful to those in charge of the Archives of European Integration, housed in the Hillman Library at the University of Pittsburgh, especially Phil Wilkin and assistant Amélie. Who would have ever thought that a copy of Brussels could exist in Pittsburgh? Finally, I am blessed with an abundance of delightful, lovely, witty and caring friends without whom I could not have completed this thesis. Their presence in my life has kept me grounded and laughing (and in some case, especially in the final stages) well fed. To avoid embarrassing both myself and them, I will merely list their names here, but each person knows they hold a special and prized place in my pantheon of most cherished people in the world. I could easily write another 200 pages, single-spaced, and perhaps even using a smaller font size, on the topic of how each of these people is special to me: Jill Lazenby, Delia Gavrus, Eileen Clarkin, Nancy Dawe, Tara Abraham, Daniela Monaldi, Michele Murray, Alison & Eddy Popp (especially for the Kraft dinner), Ruth Gmehlin, my brother Sean, my sister-in-law Debbie, Denise Horsley, Muna Salloum, Gary Kezar, Grace Vigneron, Uncle John and Aunt Flo, Aunt Ro, Jarrett Carty, the Bank of Mom and Dad, Monica Aufrecht, Alice Mah, Kirsten Leng, Pam Glowacki, and my Edinburgh family: Tracy Lazenby, Fraser Paterson and Giuliano Broccato. Thanks also to Lyndsey Cockwell and the Berlin Pop Choir, especially Harriet and Steve, Skadi, Abby and Tom, Aldewin, Frederick (Lilo), Rob, and to Julie Blumenthal for the asana; this group has collectively helped me in finding my voice, another worthwhile ongoing project. vii Table of Contents List of Figures x List of Abbreviations xi 1. Introduction 1-37 1.1. Co production Framework 1.2. Background on the Codex alimentarius 1.3 Standardization literature 1.4. Outline of chapters 1.5 Sources and methodology 1.6 FAO Archives 1.7 WHO Archives 1.8 EU Collection at the Hillman Library 1.9 Committees 1.10 Secretariat 1.11 Codex europaeus 1.12 Additives 1.13 Hygiene 1.14 Pesticide Residues 1.15 Science in the Codex viii 2. The Codex Europaeus 32-69 2.1. European Council (1958-1962) 2.2. The International Codex and Högl’s Reign at the Codex Europaeus (1962-1965) 2.3. Der Anschluss: “this sounds like a holy mess” 3. Food Additives 70-116 3.1. The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) (1955-1963) 3.2. Industrialist Presence 3.3. Scientific Experts 3.4. The Codex Committee on Food Additives (CCFA), est. 1963 3.5. The European Economic Community work on food additives 4. Food Hygiene 117-145 4.1 The Codex Committee on Food Hygiene 4.2.
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