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Food irradiation in Asia and the Pacific
I
I VIEWPOINT
Food irradiation in Asia and the Pacific L.H. Wedekind
Although there has been considerable progress in the technology of food irradiation over recent years, barriers still restrict commercial applications in many countries, thus limiting international trade. However, there are moves to demonstrate the practical benefits of this method particularly in the developing countries of the Asian and Pacific region who have joined together in an international cooperative project. Based on developments in China and elsewhere, it is likely that more countries in this region will use food irradiation to combat high rates of food losses and to improve the quality of certain foods in the future. Mr Wedekind is the editor of the IAEA Bulletin of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, Austria.
1p. Loaharanu, 'Food irradiation - an alternative technology', a keynote address delivered at the ASEAN Workshop on Food Irradiation, Bangkok, Thailand, 2628 November 1985. 2Wholesomeness of Irradiated Food, report of a Joint FAO/IAEANVHO Expert
Committee, Technical Report Series 659, World Health Organization, Geneva, 1981. 3Codex Genera/ Standard for Irradiated Foods and Recommended Code of Practice for the Operation of Radiation Facilities Used for Treatment of Foods, Codex Alimentarius Commission, CACNOL XVEd.1, Food and AgricultureOrganization of the United Nations/World Health Organization, Rome, 1984.
F O O D P O L I C Y N o v e m b e r 1986
The technology of food irradiation has made considerable progress in recent years, yet barriers continue to restrict commercial applications in many developing and industrialized countries and, in the process, limit international trade. Activities are intensifying, however, both to demonstrate the practical health and economic benefits for specific irradiated food products, and in specific regions as part of efforts to broaden consumer and governmental acceptance and to stimulate commercialization. Developing countries are assuming a leading position in the field and will play a catalytic role in food irradiation's future development. One area where strong interest has surfaced is the Asia and Pacific region, where three pilot and commercial irradiation facilities for food are currently operating and 14 others are in various stages of construction and planning, according to data from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).' Developing countries in this region now have banded together under an international cooperative project to address issues related to marketing and trade of irradiated foods. Under the project, called the Asian Regional Cooperative Project on Food Irradiation (RPFI), countries have agreed to assist and evaluate shipping trials of irradiated foods and to actively promote adoption of regulations that would provide legislative harmony in the field. RPFI member countries are Australia, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia,
Pakistan, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. The project's overall aims emphasize the transfer of technology to local industries and the coordination of research and pilot-scale studies on selected products of particular interest to the region, notably fish products, tropical fruits, onions and spices. Needs and opportunities for food irradiation are considered great in the region, which has more than one-third of the world's population, is undergoing a high rate of economic growth and is a major producer of tropical foods, particularly fruits. Although irradiation is not practical or feasible for all foods, it has proved that it can play a significant role in meeting specific food needs. The safety of the process and its nutritional adequacy has been established since 1980 by a Joint Expert Committee of the Food and Agriculture Organization ( F A O ) , the World Health Organization (WHO), and the I A E A . 2 Also established has been a recommended General Standard for Irradiated Foods by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, a joint body of the F A O and W H O . 3 Countries are using the standard and its associated code of practice to formulate national legislation. Currently, most countries in tropical regions such as Asia and the Pacific are major producers of fruits and vegetables, yet face serious problems of fruit-fly infestation. Post-harvest food losses in the region have been estimated at 30% for grains, between
285
VIEWPOINT
I
'China has invested heavily in developing food irradiation as a way to reduce losses of specific foods'
4L.j. Fredericks, 'Problems of food handling and trade in ASEAN', paper presented at the Task Force Meeting on Trade Promotion of Irradiated Foods, Vienna, 7-11 October 1985.
286
20 to 40% for fruits and vegetables, and up to 50% for fish. 4 Treatment with ionizing energy is seen as a way of meeting quarantine requirements of international trade so that export markets can be expanded, especially in view of increasing limitations associated with the use of chemical fumigants. Other perceived major benefits are reduction of food losses, increased control over maturation and senescence of fresh products, and freedom from pests and many pathogens. Worldwide, as of 1985, there are 24 commercial irradiation facilities in 11 countries that treat food as at least part of their throughput, according to the IAEA. By 1990, the number of irradiation facilities for foodstuffs is expected to surpass 50, with operations spread among 17 countries. Emerging as a leader in food irradiation's development is the People's Republic of China, which recently unveiled plans for food irradiation's rapid commercialization throughout the country. Although not yet a member of RPFI, the Chinese have decided to join the project, which is jointly sponsored by the FAO and IAEA. The decision was announced recently at a seminar on food irradiation jointly sponsored by the two organizations and held in Shanghai. Under China's new modernization initiatives, food policies being promoted seek to balance supply and demand, not only by increasing incentives for production from the nation's farmers but by cutting post-harvest food losses as well. Over the past five years, China has invested heavily in developing food irradiation as a way to reduce losses of specific foods. In January 1986, the first of five regional irradiation facilities planned in the country officially opened in Shanghai mainly to process fruits, vegetables, grains, spices and meats. Irradiated potatoes, mushrooms, rice, onions, garlic, peanuts, pork sausage and apples soon will be introduced in mass marketing trials. 'It is very important to develop food i r r a d i a t i o n . . , and, in a word, we are actively and carefully heading towards c o m m e r c i a l i z a t i o n ' , r e p o r t e d Mr Zhou Ping, vice-chairman of the
Chinese State Council's Leading Group on Nuclear Power, a body of senior policy makers who set the country's priorities in nuclear and related fields. Besides the Shanghai facility, four other demonstration plants are now being built primarily for food irradiation near provincial capitals: Chengdu in the southwest; Zhengzhou in the north; Nanjing near the eastern coast; and Lanzhou in the Chinese interior. Operations are expected to start at all four within the year. Additionally, other irradiators - near Beijing, Jinan, Tianjin and the Shenzhen Economic Zone near Hong Kong - are reported under construction as 'multipurpose' plants that will mainly sterilize medical supplies but process some foods and other products as well. To compensate for infrastructural shortcomings, China is following a pragmatic approach to commercialization, with the strategy to design and b u i l d i r r a d i a t i o n p l a n t s flexible enough to adapt to local market conditions and located near good transportation links, based on seminar reports. Most cities planning food irradiation plants are either major transportation centres or situated near important Chinese agricultural areas. While no one is reported to be going hungry in China, there is much official concern over balanced food supplies, seasonal shortages and the nutritional quality of the Chinese diet, according to Mr Lu Liangshu, Director of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science. At the F A O / I A E A seminar, Mr Zhou of the State Council reported that the country continues to suffer high food losses, up to 30% for some commodities, primarily due to preservation and storage problems. Other food preservation methods are practiced, but not all are well advanced. Refrigeration remains too expensive for China, as for most developing nations, to institute on a wide scale. Chemical fumigation, which now is reported as less expensive to use in the country than food irradiation, is applied on rice, grains and other foods. But an alternative is sought for reasons of international trade, reports
FOOD POLICY November 1986
I 'The Ministry of Public Health has approved seven irradiated foods as safe for h u m a n diets'
FOOD POLICY November 1986
I VIEWPOINT Professor Wu Jilan of the University of Beijing. Foods for export are potential candidates for food irradiation, and research has been done on vegetables, seafood and spices, such as red peppers popularly used in Szechuan cooking. However, the country's primary objective is to use the technology to help meet domestic food needs. In local areas, problems with seasonal shortages and food losses are reported as drains on the economy. In the Shanghai, a recent market survey found that 10 to 20% of vegetables spoil every year at an estimated cost of 'tens of millions of yuan', or upwards of US $3 million. Fruits fare as badly, with those lost in transport or storage annually amounting to more than 28 000 tons valued at 12 million yuan, or roughly US $4 million. Interest in food irradiation's benefits primarily is tied to these realities. By using gamma waves to reduce or eliminate pathogens and food-spoiling microorganisms, the country aims to prolong storage times so that localities can b e t t e r control conditions in attempts to override seasonal shortages, stabilize food supplies and improve consumer diets. Chinese scientists and engineers have been studying food irradiation at small irradiators built throughout the country since 1958, but it wasn't until the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976 that activity intensified. Today, about 100 small research irradiators are reported to be operating to support research in various fields, and more than US $10 million has been invested in food irradiation,s development over the past 10 years, estimates Professor Wu of the University of Beijing. To date, the Ministry of Public Health has approved seven irradiated foods as safe for human diets: rice, potatoes, onions, garlic, peanuts, mushrooms and pork sausages; approval No 8, for apples, is expected shortly. Persuasive in the actions were assurances of safety from international food and health authorities, namely the Codex Alimentarius Commission of the F A O and World Health Organization, and the country's own nutri-
tional and safety studies. China's studies included eight short-term tests of volunteer medical students and citizens who ate irradiated potatoes, rice, pork sausages, mushrooms and other vegetables over periods of two to four months. The tests concluded 'there were no harmful effects at all a f t e r c o n s u m p t i o n of i r r a d i a t e d foods', Mr Dai Yin of China's Institute of Food Safety, Control, and Inspection reported at the F A O / I A E A seminar. All told, more than 25 separate foods are now seen as potential candidates for food irradiation processing, including fish, bamboo shoots, cauliflower, carrots, dried dates, strawberries and oranges. Just how far China's plans are carried in years ahead remains to be seen, and may be more tied to national economic policies than food irradiation's pros and cons. Signs are surfacing that the country's ambitious modernization drive may be pushing the economy too fast, and recently plans for nuclear plant development were scaled back. Yet if the economy can sustain the current and projected pace for irradiation's commercialization, China clearly will emerge as the leader in the commercial use of gamma radiation to preserve food. In the process, obstacles h a m p e r i n g the t e c h n o l o g y ' s worldwide development may be easier for other countries to overcome. At the Shanghai seminar, a panel of experts from Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Bangladesh, India, Thailand and China summarized five major barriers to progress: a lack of commitment and investment from the food industry; absence of approval for the use of ionizing energy as a food process by most governments; uncert a i n t y a b o u t c o n s u m e r reaction; limited information on the economic feasibility of the process on a commercial scale; and insufficient experience on how the process may be controlled and regulated commercially, particularly for purposes of trade. Countries were urged to take steps to implement legislative recommendations of the Codex Alimentarius Commission as part of steps to harmonize
287
VIEWPOINT
I
I regulations, to conduct market and economic studies to stimulate wider interest in food industries, and to establish and document good manufacturing practices, strict hygienic standards and satisfactory processing controls. To address and help solve problems more specifically related to trade, the F A O , W H O and I A E A have established an International Consultative Group on Food Irradiation composed of experts nominated by 23 governments. The group's major work is directed at trade promotion, training, economic feasibility studies and public and consumer information.
'Research and development has shown that food irradiation is a safe and viable technology'
288
Conclusions Based on developments in China and elsewhere, it is reasonable to expect that more countries in the Asia and Pacific region will be using food irradiation in the years ahead to combat high rates of food losses and improve the quality of certain foods. Postharvest food losses in the region have been estimated at 30% for grains, between 20 to 40% for fruits and
vegetables and up to 50% for fish. Currently, Japan is the only country in the region with a commercial-scale food irradiator and it has been successfully marketing irradiated potatoes since 1974. In addition to China, other countries moving to construct irradiators in the region are Australia, Bangladesh, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines and Thailand. In the future, national and international organizations, food industries, trade associations and consumer organizations will have an important role to play in introducing this new technology on a commercial scale in many countries. Research and development over the past three decades has demonstrated that food irradiation is a safe and viable technology holding important benefits for food producers and consumers alike. With an increasing number of commercial and dem o n s t r a t i o n i r r a d i a t o r s becoming available to process a variety of foods, prospects for the wider application of food irradiation in developing countries will improve.
FOOD POLICY November 1986
I VIEWPOINT
Food irradiation in Asia and the Pacific L.H. Wedekind
Although there has been considerable progress in the technology of food irradiation over recent years, barriers still restrict commercial applications in many countries, thus limiting international trade. However, there are moves to demonstrate the practical benefits of this method particularly in the developing countries of the Asian and Pacific region who have joined together in an international cooperative project. Based on developments in China and elsewhere, it is likely that more countries in this region will use food irradiation to combat high rates of food losses and to improve the quality of certain foods in the future. Mr Wedekind is the editor of the IAEA Bulletin of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, Austria.
1p. Loaharanu, 'Food irradiation - an alternative technology', a keynote address delivered at the ASEAN Workshop on Food Irradiation, Bangkok, Thailand, 2628 November 1985. 2Wholesomeness of Irradiated Food, report of a Joint FAO/IAEANVHO Expert
Committee, Technical Report Series 659, World Health Organization, Geneva, 1981. 3Codex Genera/ Standard for Irradiated Foods and Recommended Code of Practice for the Operation of Radiation Facilities Used for Treatment of Foods, Codex Alimentarius Commission, CACNOL XVEd.1, Food and AgricultureOrganization of the United Nations/World Health Organization, Rome, 1984.
F O O D P O L I C Y N o v e m b e r 1986
The technology of food irradiation has made considerable progress in recent years, yet barriers continue to restrict commercial applications in many developing and industrialized countries and, in the process, limit international trade. Activities are intensifying, however, both to demonstrate the practical health and economic benefits for specific irradiated food products, and in specific regions as part of efforts to broaden consumer and governmental acceptance and to stimulate commercialization. Developing countries are assuming a leading position in the field and will play a catalytic role in food irradiation's future development. One area where strong interest has surfaced is the Asia and Pacific region, where three pilot and commercial irradiation facilities for food are currently operating and 14 others are in various stages of construction and planning, according to data from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).' Developing countries in this region now have banded together under an international cooperative project to address issues related to marketing and trade of irradiated foods. Under the project, called the Asian Regional Cooperative Project on Food Irradiation (RPFI), countries have agreed to assist and evaluate shipping trials of irradiated foods and to actively promote adoption of regulations that would provide legislative harmony in the field. RPFI member countries are Australia, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia,
Pakistan, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. The project's overall aims emphasize the transfer of technology to local industries and the coordination of research and pilot-scale studies on selected products of particular interest to the region, notably fish products, tropical fruits, onions and spices. Needs and opportunities for food irradiation are considered great in the region, which has more than one-third of the world's population, is undergoing a high rate of economic growth and is a major producer of tropical foods, particularly fruits. Although irradiation is not practical or feasible for all foods, it has proved that it can play a significant role in meeting specific food needs. The safety of the process and its nutritional adequacy has been established since 1980 by a Joint Expert Committee of the Food and Agriculture Organization ( F A O ) , the World Health Organization (WHO), and the I A E A . 2 Also established has been a recommended General Standard for Irradiated Foods by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, a joint body of the F A O and W H O . 3 Countries are using the standard and its associated code of practice to formulate national legislation. Currently, most countries in tropical regions such as Asia and the Pacific are major producers of fruits and vegetables, yet face serious problems of fruit-fly infestation. Post-harvest food losses in the region have been estimated at 30% for grains, between
285
VIEWPOINT
I
'China has invested heavily in developing food irradiation as a way to reduce losses of specific foods'
4L.j. Fredericks, 'Problems of food handling and trade in ASEAN', paper presented at the Task Force Meeting on Trade Promotion of Irradiated Foods, Vienna, 7-11 October 1985.
286
20 to 40% for fruits and vegetables, and up to 50% for fish. 4 Treatment with ionizing energy is seen as a way of meeting quarantine requirements of international trade so that export markets can be expanded, especially in view of increasing limitations associated with the use of chemical fumigants. Other perceived major benefits are reduction of food losses, increased control over maturation and senescence of fresh products, and freedom from pests and many pathogens. Worldwide, as of 1985, there are 24 commercial irradiation facilities in 11 countries that treat food as at least part of their throughput, according to the IAEA. By 1990, the number of irradiation facilities for foodstuffs is expected to surpass 50, with operations spread among 17 countries. Emerging as a leader in food irradiation's development is the People's Republic of China, which recently unveiled plans for food irradiation's rapid commercialization throughout the country. Although not yet a member of RPFI, the Chinese have decided to join the project, which is jointly sponsored by the FAO and IAEA. The decision was announced recently at a seminar on food irradiation jointly sponsored by the two organizations and held in Shanghai. Under China's new modernization initiatives, food policies being promoted seek to balance supply and demand, not only by increasing incentives for production from the nation's farmers but by cutting post-harvest food losses as well. Over the past five years, China has invested heavily in developing food irradiation as a way to reduce losses of specific foods. In January 1986, the first of five regional irradiation facilities planned in the country officially opened in Shanghai mainly to process fruits, vegetables, grains, spices and meats. Irradiated potatoes, mushrooms, rice, onions, garlic, peanuts, pork sausage and apples soon will be introduced in mass marketing trials. 'It is very important to develop food i r r a d i a t i o n . . , and, in a word, we are actively and carefully heading towards c o m m e r c i a l i z a t i o n ' , r e p o r t e d Mr Zhou Ping, vice-chairman of the
Chinese State Council's Leading Group on Nuclear Power, a body of senior policy makers who set the country's priorities in nuclear and related fields. Besides the Shanghai facility, four other demonstration plants are now being built primarily for food irradiation near provincial capitals: Chengdu in the southwest; Zhengzhou in the north; Nanjing near the eastern coast; and Lanzhou in the Chinese interior. Operations are expected to start at all four within the year. Additionally, other irradiators - near Beijing, Jinan, Tianjin and the Shenzhen Economic Zone near Hong Kong - are reported under construction as 'multipurpose' plants that will mainly sterilize medical supplies but process some foods and other products as well. To compensate for infrastructural shortcomings, China is following a pragmatic approach to commercialization, with the strategy to design and b u i l d i r r a d i a t i o n p l a n t s flexible enough to adapt to local market conditions and located near good transportation links, based on seminar reports. Most cities planning food irradiation plants are either major transportation centres or situated near important Chinese agricultural areas. While no one is reported to be going hungry in China, there is much official concern over balanced food supplies, seasonal shortages and the nutritional quality of the Chinese diet, according to Mr Lu Liangshu, Director of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science. At the F A O / I A E A seminar, Mr Zhou of the State Council reported that the country continues to suffer high food losses, up to 30% for some commodities, primarily due to preservation and storage problems. Other food preservation methods are practiced, but not all are well advanced. Refrigeration remains too expensive for China, as for most developing nations, to institute on a wide scale. Chemical fumigation, which now is reported as less expensive to use in the country than food irradiation, is applied on rice, grains and other foods. But an alternative is sought for reasons of international trade, reports
FOOD POLICY November 1986
I 'The Ministry of Public Health has approved seven irradiated foods as safe for h u m a n diets'
FOOD POLICY November 1986
I VIEWPOINT Professor Wu Jilan of the University of Beijing. Foods for export are potential candidates for food irradiation, and research has been done on vegetables, seafood and spices, such as red peppers popularly used in Szechuan cooking. However, the country's primary objective is to use the technology to help meet domestic food needs. In local areas, problems with seasonal shortages and food losses are reported as drains on the economy. In the Shanghai, a recent market survey found that 10 to 20% of vegetables spoil every year at an estimated cost of 'tens of millions of yuan', or upwards of US $3 million. Fruits fare as badly, with those lost in transport or storage annually amounting to more than 28 000 tons valued at 12 million yuan, or roughly US $4 million. Interest in food irradiation's benefits primarily is tied to these realities. By using gamma waves to reduce or eliminate pathogens and food-spoiling microorganisms, the country aims to prolong storage times so that localities can b e t t e r control conditions in attempts to override seasonal shortages, stabilize food supplies and improve consumer diets. Chinese scientists and engineers have been studying food irradiation at small irradiators built throughout the country since 1958, but it wasn't until the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976 that activity intensified. Today, about 100 small research irradiators are reported to be operating to support research in various fields, and more than US $10 million has been invested in food irradiation,s development over the past 10 years, estimates Professor Wu of the University of Beijing. To date, the Ministry of Public Health has approved seven irradiated foods as safe for human diets: rice, potatoes, onions, garlic, peanuts, mushrooms and pork sausages; approval No 8, for apples, is expected shortly. Persuasive in the actions were assurances of safety from international food and health authorities, namely the Codex Alimentarius Commission of the F A O and World Health Organization, and the country's own nutri-
tional and safety studies. China's studies included eight short-term tests of volunteer medical students and citizens who ate irradiated potatoes, rice, pork sausages, mushrooms and other vegetables over periods of two to four months. The tests concluded 'there were no harmful effects at all a f t e r c o n s u m p t i o n of i r r a d i a t e d foods', Mr Dai Yin of China's Institute of Food Safety, Control, and Inspection reported at the F A O / I A E A seminar. All told, more than 25 separate foods are now seen as potential candidates for food irradiation processing, including fish, bamboo shoots, cauliflower, carrots, dried dates, strawberries and oranges. Just how far China's plans are carried in years ahead remains to be seen, and may be more tied to national economic policies than food irradiation's pros and cons. Signs are surfacing that the country's ambitious modernization drive may be pushing the economy too fast, and recently plans for nuclear plant development were scaled back. Yet if the economy can sustain the current and projected pace for irradiation's commercialization, China clearly will emerge as the leader in the commercial use of gamma radiation to preserve food. In the process, obstacles h a m p e r i n g the t e c h n o l o g y ' s worldwide development may be easier for other countries to overcome. At the Shanghai seminar, a panel of experts from Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Bangladesh, India, Thailand and China summarized five major barriers to progress: a lack of commitment and investment from the food industry; absence of approval for the use of ionizing energy as a food process by most governments; uncert a i n t y a b o u t c o n s u m e r reaction; limited information on the economic feasibility of the process on a commercial scale; and insufficient experience on how the process may be controlled and regulated commercially, particularly for purposes of trade. Countries were urged to take steps to implement legislative recommendations of the Codex Alimentarius Commission as part of steps to harmonize
287
VIEWPOINT
I
I regulations, to conduct market and economic studies to stimulate wider interest in food industries, and to establish and document good manufacturing practices, strict hygienic standards and satisfactory processing controls. To address and help solve problems more specifically related to trade, the F A O , W H O and I A E A have established an International Consultative Group on Food Irradiation composed of experts nominated by 23 governments. The group's major work is directed at trade promotion, training, economic feasibility studies and public and consumer information.
'Research and development has shown that food irradiation is a safe and viable technology'
288
Conclusions Based on developments in China and elsewhere, it is reasonable to expect that more countries in the Asia and Pacific region will be using food irradiation in the years ahead to combat high rates of food losses and improve the quality of certain foods. Postharvest food losses in the region have been estimated at 30% for grains, between 20 to 40% for fruits and
vegetables and up to 50% for fish. Currently, Japan is the only country in the region with a commercial-scale food irradiator and it has been successfully marketing irradiated potatoes since 1974. In addition to China, other countries moving to construct irradiators in the region are Australia, Bangladesh, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines and Thailand. In the future, national and international organizations, food industries, trade associations and consumer organizations will have an important role to play in introducing this new technology on a commercial scale in many countries. Research and development over the past three decades has demonstrated that food irradiation is a safe and viable technology holding important benefits for food producers and consumers alike. With an increasing number of commercial and dem o n s t r a t i o n i r r a d i a t o r s becoming available to process a variety of foods, prospects for the wider application of food irradiation in developing countries will improve.
FOOD POLICY November 1986