Primary Food Commodity Classification of Processed Foods of Plant Origin in the Codex Food Classification

The purpose of this study was to obtain the codex classification information on the primary food commodity (fresh state) of processed foods of plant origin that are included in the Codex Classification of Foods and Animal Feeds. Furthermore, whether or not the primary food commodity is included in the primary food classification from the Food Code of Korea was investigated. The results are summarized as follows: First, the Codex Classification information (number of classification codes/number of the primary food commodity group that fresh commodities of processed foods are classified/number of primary food commodity that is not included in the Codex Classification) by a processed food group appeared to be 46/8/0 for dried fruits, 76/11/1 for dried vegetables, 54/4/12 for dried herbs, 36/1/0 for cereal grain milling fractions, 17/4/3 for oils and fats (crude), 34/8/9 for oils and fats (refined), 20/8/0 for fruit juices, 3/2/0 for vegetable juices, and 19 codes for teas (in the Codex Classification, the primary food commodity group for tea does not exist). Second, the number of the primary food commodities not included in the Food Code of Korea was 9 for dried fruits, 14 for dried vegetables, 35 for dried herbs, 0 for cereal grain milling fractions, 6 for teas, 3 for oils and fats (crude), 9 for oils and fats (refined), 2 for fruit juices, and 0 for vegetable juices. Third, it was demonstrated that caution should be exercised when using Codex Classification due to differences in food classification between Codex and Korea, such as coconut (Codex, as tree nut as well as assorted tropical and sub-tropical fruit) and olive (Codex, as assorted tropical and sub-tropical fruit as well as olives for oil production), as well as special cases in the Codex Classification, such as dried chili pepper (Codex, as spice), tomato juice (Codex, as vegetable for primary food commodity and as fruit juice for juice) and ginger (Codex, as spice for rhizome and not including as primary commodity for leaves).