The Codex Committee on Fats and Oils has adopted a proposal from Switzerland to begin new work developing a standard for fish oils, according to the Global Organization for EPA and DHA Omega-3 (GOED), Salt Lake City, UT. The proposal will now go to the Codex Alimentarius Commission for its endorsement at its July meeting.

A number of countries raised concerns that more technical detail on the processing of fish oils and trade data were needed in the Swiss proposal. The Codex member countries will be responsible for getting this data to the Swiss delegation by the end of April.

Oils from algae and marine mammals were excluded from the proposal. However, the scope of the standard will cover oils from both fish and shellfish, GOED said. Also, under Codex classifications, squid fall into the shellfish categories, so the standard will also cover oils from cephalopods.