What is the primary focus of the Codex Alimentarius?

The primary focus of the Codex Alimentarius is food safety and consumer health. Established by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO), Codex Alimentarius serves as a collection of internationally recognized standards, guidelines, and codes of practice to ensure the safety, quality, and fair trade of food products.

Food safety is crucial because it helps to protect consumers from hazards that may arise from contaminated food, thereby promoting public health. The standards set forth by Codex Alimentarius are intended to provide a foundation for countries to develop their own food safety management systems, ensuring that food is safe, nutritious, and acceptable for consumption across different cultures and regions.

The other options, while important issues in their own right, do not align with the specific mission of Codex Alimentarius. Agricultural development focuses on improving farming practices and productivity, wildlife preservation concerns the protection of animal species and their habitats, and climate change mitigation addresses the environmental impacts of human activity. These topics may intersect with food safety, but they are not the focal point of Codex Alimentarius's aims and efforts.