What is the new Food Standard on Food Irradiation?

On 3 August 1999 Australian and New Zealand Health Ministers, meeting as the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Council (ANZFSC), agreed to a new food standard for Australia and New Zealand to maintain the current strict control on the irradiation of food. Draft Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code is then released on March 15, 2000.

The Ministers recognised that in some cases there is no other feasible and safe alternative to irradiating food. The new standard would therefore allow ANZFSC to consider and approve applications to irradiate specific foods before these irradiated foods were allowed on the market.

Approval will be based on:

      • whether there is a public health and safety need;
      • if there are no other satisfactory and effective means to protect the safety of consumers; or
      • if current methods are damaging to health or the environment.

The new standard requires all irradiated food to be labelled and irradiation will be restricted to certain foods.

Irradiation would not be permitted as a substitute for proper safe food handling. You will be able to comment on each new application which would have to go through rounds of public consultation. Each application will also have to go through a scientific safety assessment by ANZFA before being considered by ANZFSC.

Three international agencies the World Health Organization, the Food and Agricultural Organization and the International Atomic Energy Agency accept the safety and usefulness of food irradiation. The World Health Organisation has studied the technology and confirmed its safety and its effectiveness in eliminating or controlling food contaminants which might otherwise threaten the safety of the public. The process is also endorsed by the American Medical Association, the Scientific Committee of the European Union, and the American Spice Trade Association among others.

World wide, 41 countries have granted clearance or authorisation to irradiate specific food. Countries which currently irradiate small but significant volumes of food commercially and safely include Belgium, China, France, the Netherlands, South Africa and the United States.

The overwhelming consensus of the scientific community is that irradiation produces safe and nutritious food when done in accordance with specified standards.

The new standard for food irradiation also requires that foods containing irradiated ingredients or components must say so on the label. Most other countries that permit food irradiation require labelling.

What was Australia’s and New Zealand’s previous policy on food irradiation?

Where was a moratorium on the irradiation of food in Australia. New Zealand has a food regulation that allows for applications for the sale of irradiated food, although since 1989, government policy has not allowed irradiation processing of food for human consumption, and the Food Regulations 1984 prohibit the sale of food treated by irradiation unless specific permission for the use of the treatment has been granted by the Minister of Health.

In contrast, many countries in the world permit the treatment of some foods using irradiation following a case-by-case consideration.

The draft standard proposes to prohibit the irradiation of food, or ingredients or components of food, unless specific permission is given. As New Zealand retailers will be able to import and sell foods irradiated overseas as specified under the standard there may be no increase in the number of radiation facilities in this country. If local food processors decided to apply the technology here then, depending upon the particular use, they may be able to choose a non-radioactive (electron beam) source of irradiation.

The building of new food irradiation plants would be subject to other legislation including the Resource Management Act 1991 and the Radiation Protection Act 1973 which may require public consultation.