Food irradiation: Standards, regulations and world-wide trade
1. Introduction
✅ Requires a framework of international standards and national regulations
✅ Multi- or bi-lateral agreements
✅ Consumer acceptance and present trade in irradiated food
3. National regulations
2. International standards
✅ Dealing with:
✅ Human health
✅ Plant protection
✅ Labeling
✅ Dose delivery
✅ Quality assurance
✅ Facility management
2.1 Human Health
✅ Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex)
2.2 Labelling
✅ Label of a food which has been treated with ionizing radiation to carry a written statement indicating that treatment in close proximity to the name of the food
2.4 Facilities
✅ Safety standard set down by the International Atomic Energy Agency
2.5 Dosimetry
✅ Requires the use of dosimeters and a dosimeter system that provide a well-defined chemical or physical response that can be measured and related to the absorbed dose via the system's calibration curve
2.6 Packaging
✅ Packed in material that maintains its integrity and that will not cause the diffusion of any toxic materials into the food during or after the process
3.1 Regulations for human health
⭐ Codex General Standard
3.2 Regulations for labelling
⭐ Codex General Standard on Labelling of Pre-packaged Foods All irradiated ingredients must be labelled without any lower concentration limit and irradiated food and ingredients must labelled within the restaurant and catering trades
3.3 Regulation for plant health
⭐ Regulations on phytosanitary treatments
4. Multi-lateral and bi-lateral trade agreements
4.1 Multi-lateral
⭐ World Trade Organisation (WTO): to liberalize world trade and minimize technical non-tariff barriers to trade
⭐ The Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement (SPS): rules for food safety and for animal and plant health standards
⭐The Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement: to apply the international standards and to ensure that any regulations or practices do not discriminate
4.2 Bi-lateral agreements
⭐ expanding use of irradiation as a phytosanitary treatment, ensure that the threat from any regulated pest on any agricultural export commodity to the agriculture or economy of an importing country is eliminated
5. Acceptance by food producers, retailers and consumers
✏ It is necessary for food producers to adopt an innovative technology, for retailers to market the product and for consumers to purchase it.
✏ The major barrier to food irradiation was reluctance by consumers to accept irradiated food.
✏ Based on consumer surveys though several authors have warned that surveys may underestimate the likelihood that consumers will purchase irradiated food once it is available for them to see and evaluate on retail shelves.
6. Trade in irradiated food
6.1 Global totals of commercially irradiated food
✏ Global volumes of irradiated food in the marketplace are difficult to estimate
✏ Irradiated food volumes continue to decrease in Europe but there has been considerable growth in applications of irradiation in China, particularly, and also in other Asian countries since 2010
✏ Decontamination of spices and herbs probably remains the most used application of food irradiation with volumes in the US, China and other Asian countries likely to be in well excess of 100,000 t
6.2 International trade
✏ Given the volume of spice treated annually, it is very likely that spice is the irradiated commodity that is most traded internationally
✏ The export/import of irradiated fresh fruit and vegetables.
7. Issues
7.1 Labelling
😃 Codex Alimentarius recommends that irradiated ingredients be labelled
😃 No lower limit to the concentration of irradiated ingredient causing a whole food to be labelled
😃 The USA regulation has no requirement to label once an irradiated food becomes an ingredient of a non-irradiated food
😃 Ingredient labelling is particularly important for spices, herbs and condiments
😃 No ingredients appear to be labelled as irradiated in the processed food in which they are used
😃 The USFDA has issued a Proposed Rule that would limit labelling even in a whole food to irradiated food in which there has been a material change to the food
😃 Material change is one that affects the organoleptic, shelf-life or functional properties of the food
😃 This proposal is still under consideration
7.2 Future adoption of the technology
😃 The future growth of food irradiation depends in part in demonstrating to food producers and retailers that not only is the technology beneficial, it will be purchased by consumers
😃 Radiation processors to recognize the difficulties that the food trade perceive when inserting an extra and unfamiliar technical step into the supply chain from farm to fork for highly perishable commodities
😃 Cooperation between irradiation processors and the food trade is necessary to make the irradiation step as uncomplicated and smooth as possible
8. Conclusions
😃 The success at retail level of irradiated meats and fresh produce indicates that consumer acceptance of irradiated food is considerably greater than has been indicated in many surveys of consumer opinion
😃 Demonstrating the market successes to food producers and retailers
😃 Greater cooperation between irradiation processes and the food trade to minimize disruption to the food supply chain would also be helpful
😃 Labelling is an added cost to the food trade and is a focal point for opposition to irradiated foods
😃 Rationalization and great consistency in labelling regulations and enforcement would be advantageous
2.3 Plant Protection
✅ The International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) is the recognised international authority for standards and measures to prevent the introduction and spread of plant pests
✅ ISPM 18, “Guidelines for the Use of Irradiation as Phytosanitary Measure” provides technical guidance on the specific procedures for the application of ionizing radiation that countries should adopt when trading in irradiated fresh fruit and vegetables
✅ ISPM 28 “Phytosanitary Treatments for Regulated Pests” sets out minimum doses for a range of regulated pests