Day 1: October 26, 2006
This health freedom trip started before we even left the country. As many of you know, the American Academy of Medicine (www.AAEM.com) is an organization filled with doctors who think a whole lot like I do. Because of that, it is the professional organization with which I feel most allied and which is my professional organization. Imagine my delight, then, when I learned that General Stubblebine and I would be honored by this exceptional group with their coveted Carlton Lee Award for the person(s) who best exemplifies the principles of Environmental Medicine. And imagine my distress when I learned that the award ceremony was on October 26, 2006.
The delight is obvious. The distress only becomes obvious when you realize that this year’s Codex Committee on Nutrition and Food for Special Dietary Uses (CCNFSDU) started on October 30, 2006.
DAY 2: October 27, 2006
The fix? Fly to Charleston SC (VERY early), drive 2.5 hours to receive the Carlton Lee Award on October 26, then drive back to Charleston after dinner, sleep at a motel for a few hours and then fly back (VERY early) on October 27. Drop the old suitcase, pick up the new ones and fly to Frankfurt (6 hours) to Singapore (12 hours) to Bangkok (2 hours) to Chiang Mai (1 hour).
Day 3: October 23, 2006
Lost in the International Date Line. Gone. Poof!
Day 4: October 29, 2006
When we arrived in Chiang Mai and got to our hotel room at about 6:00 PM we met someone we knew who asked us if we would like to come to the famous Chiang Mai Night Market or the special Sunday Market. We looked at each other, said, “No, but thanks for asking” and collapsed onto the bed. We slept 13.5 hours. No dinner, just bed. Ahhhh!
Day 5: October 30, 2006
Today was the opening day of the Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses (CCNFSDU). The big surprise was that the rumors were true: Dr. Grossklaus did not allow anyone else to chair this meeting. It may have been in Chiang Mai, Thailand and the Vice Chair of CCNGSDU may have been right here, but there was NO WAY Dr. G. was about to let a strand, not a single strand, of the reigns of power out of his hands. And he did not.
The session was opened by the usual remarks of introduction and then the new Codex film played (for the first time in public as far as I know). In it, Dr. Grossklaus talked about how difficult consensus is (although watching him and other chairmen at Codex it would appear to the eyes of an observer that consensus is remarkably easy to achieve: you simply ignore, override, dismiss or misinterpret anything that gets in the way of what you have already decided will happen and then you declare that decision “achieved by consensus” regardless of the sense of the body on that issue. Perhaps it is not really so easy. Perhaps ruthless autocracy takes its toll. Because today, when Dr. Grossklaus made his obligatory opening remarks he, quite astonishingly, said that Codex had to pay more attention to the health of consumers than to trade and that it was the responsibility of Codex to show responsibility for the most vulnerable, i.e., infants and those who were sick, particularly those who were sick with food-caused diseases!
Although the content of the meeting so far has been no different, it is very important to note that our work is causing changes at the “show and tell” level because, we believe, our input is causing friendly nations to ask questions inside and outside of Codex about what IS the purpose of Codex? Why ARE they taking decisions based on trade at the expense of health, etc.?
Consider the posture struck by Dr. G. just one year ago in the CCNFSDU ’05 meeting (Bonn, Germany) when he cut South Africa off at the knees when she stated that since the goal of Codex was optimal health and…. She never got further than that. Dr. G. roared at her “Health! It would be very nice if Codex were about health! But it isn’t! It’s about TRADE”. Well, this year, at least in the first few moments of the meeting, it’s about health. Well, well, well.
Next, another surprise. During last year’s CCNFSDU meeting in Bonn I was approached by a film maker to be interviewed. He said that he had been following the work of the Natural Solutions Foundation, that he was a big supporter, and that he had been commissioned to make a film about Codex BY Codex. I said that I did not think he wanted me in his film since I did not imagine Codex really wanted to hear what I had to say about it.
“On the contrary”, he said, “it is precisely because you will say what you believe that I do want you in the film. I only took this commission”‘ he said,” on the condition that I could make a film that honestly expressed people’s perceptions and believes about Codex and that the Directors of Codex would watch it.” “OK”, I said, let ‘er rip”
And rip she did. I talked openly and at great length about the flaws, dangers and missed opportunities of Codex from a structural, administrative, scientific and psychological perspective. During the time that I was being interviewed on a balcony overlooking the meeting room (as the last interviewee at about 4 PM after the end of the CCNFSDU meeting), I had my back to the balcony railing so I did not see who walked in as I started to talk, stopped, cocked his head skyward and stood listening to my interview. But General Stubblebine and the film maker did: it was Dr. Rolf Grossklaus. You can imagine, of course, that much of my discussion of the dangers and shortcomings of the system and of CCNFSDU centered on a very unfavorable analysis of the gentleman listening in silence.
Well, when the film went on this morning I realized it was THAT film and that it was being shown in THIS committee! Let ‘er rip once more, I said to myself and General Stubblebine. And rip she did, to some extent. My contribution was edited to make a single, but very important, point: “The Codex process stifles the voice of dissident scientists”. That is, those scientists whose work does not serve corporate ends are not quoted or cited for supposedly “science based” decisions. This is a very serious flaw indeed.
Then we took a coffee break.
After the coffee break we got down to business. One of the orders of business was requesting changes in the order of agenda items. The very important Global Strategy for Diet, Physical Activity and Health (which Codex was told to implement by its parent organizations, WHO and FAO at the Codex Commission meeting (Rome, 2005) was, once again, late on the agenda. Last year at this same committee that meant that the item was, in effect, not discussed at all. Several countries were not about to see that happen again so a request was made by them to put the item on the docket earlier to allow adequate discussion. We shall see what happens.
Another important bit of business pertains to baby food additives: but CCNFSDU appears to have made a rather large oops, at least according to the Codex contact point of a major European nation and about a half a dozen other seasoned Codex hands. You see, the recommendations for additives made by CCNFSDU must be approved by the joint commission of food additives run by WHO and FAO (JCFA) and by the Codex Committee on Food Additives and Contaminants (CCFAC).
Back in 1985, JCFA made it clear that it had no data on additives on people younger than 12 weeks of age. As far as most of us are aware, infants are born younger than that. Therefore, there is no process currently available for determining which additives can be approved in such babies. Clearly, a way out of this morass will have to be found but, again according to this expert, this will likely be a major black eye for CCNFSDU. We will let you know as things unfold.
During the last coffee break of the day I spoke with a representative from WHO who was very distressed that only a few countries were actively participating: the US, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, occasionally Indonesia and Malaysia on one side an, always, on the side of nutrition and consumer protection, South Africa.
Then the WHO representative Codex is not making food safe. Farmers know how to make food safe. Cultures that deal with food in various climates and conditions have learned how to make it safe. Codex is not helping. It is serving industry. Why do the countries let it? Codex, he said, does not mean anything if…. and then he proceeded to explain to me the same strategy which the Natural Solutions Foundation has been taking to countries in Africa and Asia. He articulated the same two step process which you can see applied to the Vitamin and Mineral Guideline in the Codex eBook !
Some say this strategy will not protect countries. They are, according to the representative from WHO, simply wrong. I must admit, it was very pleasant to hear this additional, and unsolicited confirmation of our policy advice from WHO!
This evening, after the session was over, we were taken to a folkloric presentation with Thai food and dance. I am very, very glad that this gala was not held last night!
Sessions are on again tomorrow. Rest assured I will let you know what happens.
Yours in health and freedom,
Rima E. Laibow, MD
Medical Director
