Codex--what's all the fuss?

The internet is saturated with misinformation about The Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex). A brief review of recent Codex actions indicates that Codex is not at all like the organization being portrayed on the web. Is the United States receiving commensurate value for the resources that it is devoting to Codex? By examining the cost of US participation in Codex activities for one year (2009-2010), the author concludes that the United States could achieve the same levels of success with significantly less expenditure. Toward that end, three proposals are put forward: 1) Reduce the size of US delegations to Codex meetings; 2) Give up the host country role for three of the four committees that the US currently hosts and 3) Reduce the US contribution to the Codex Trust Fund. A casual search of the internet, using the search term "Codex Alimentarius," will yield almost a million hits, the vast majority of which are anti-Codex screeds, filled with misinterpretations and misinformation. Many allege that Codex will deny access, or already has, to dietary supplements and that common foods such as garlic will be classified as drugs, available only by prescription. These alleged actions are seen as the work of a vast international conspiracy of the multinational pharmaceutical companies. Many see Codex as one component of a "new world order," whose primary agenda is population control. There are several organizations whose primary purpose appears to be opposition to Codex by spreading misinformation across the web. These include groups in the United States, such as Health Freedom USA and the Natural Solutions Foundation, the National Health Federation and the International Advocates for Health Freedom; as well as organizations in Europe--the Alliance for Natural Health-Europe, Ian Crane in the United Kingdom and Dr. Rath Health Foundation in Germany. Anyone coming to Codex from the internet only is bound to be confused and probably misinformed.