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The status of food irradiation programs and regulations in the United States
Abstracts
1018
STATUS
REPORT-FOOD
IRRADIATION
IN THE UNITED
KINGDOM
W. R. BRADFORD Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Great Westminster House, Horseferry Road, London SWlP 2AE. U.K. Ahstract-Commercialisation of food irradiation requires progress on two main fronts, firstly the demonstration of technical feasibility, and secondly the “administrative” aspects such as legislation and public acceptability. In the U.K. during the past few years, effort has been directed principally towards establishment of a firm basis for orderly introduction of the process, should that be the decision of Government. The Report of the Advisory Committee on Irradiated and Novel Foods (appointed by the Government to advise on all aspects of the irradiation of food) was published in 1986. After a period for comment, the Committee considered the representations received and provided further advice to Government in November 1987. The Government announced in February 1988 that it accepted the Committee’s advice that under the conditions prescribed, irradiated food is safe and wholesome; nevertheless, the present general prohibition would be maintained until the Government was satisfied that effective regulatory controls could be drawn up for irradiation of specific foods, “in order to bring about good industrial and marketing practices and ensure informed consumer choice”. (It is accepted that labelling of irradiated food and ingredients would be necessary to ensure consumer choice.) The Working Party is very conscious of the need for any U.K. legislation to take account of and be consistent with the Codex General Standard for Irradiated Foods. Another of the factors to be considered is the availability of detection tests. Research into methods of detection is being carried out both in the Ministry’s own laboratories and by several outside organisations under contract. REFERENCES Bradford W. R. (1988) Aspects of Implementation of Food Irradiation and Identification of Irradiated Products. ESNA 1988 Report of Working Group 1. HMSO (1986) Report on the Safety and Wholesomeness of Irradiated Foods. ISBN 0 11321059 0.
THE STATUS OF FOOD IRRADIATION PROGRAMS REGULATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES
AND
J. S. SIVINSKI Director, Radiation Technology Programs, CHZM Hill, Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.A. Abstract-The federal and state food irradiation programs in the United States are becoming increasingly more active in nature and broader in scope. The major drivers for these dynamic changes are the promulgation of food irradiation regulations by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the awareness by the U.S. Congress that the technology transfer function must be supported in the areas of demonstration and public information. Cooperative programs between the U.S. Department of Energy and local sponsors have been mandated and funded by the Congress on a continuing basis in six regions of the United States. These programs are directed toward the demonstrations of the utility of the technology on regional agricultural commodities and on regional problems. The six local sponsors may choose the source that is most appropriate to their needs of those specified in the FDA and Codex regulations. Two have already selected linear accelerator technology, one will use Cobalt-60 and the remainder are in either the feasibility study or decision-making processes. It is anticipated that at least one facility will be operational by January 1990, with the remainder becoming operational throughout the next 2 years.
TRANSPORT
AND DISPOSAL OF COBALT-60 IRRADIATION SOURCES
INDUSTRIAL
P. KUNSTADT Nordion International
Inc., 447 March Road, P.O. Box 13500, Kanata, Ontario, Canada K2K 1X8
Abstract-This paper deals with safety aspects of the handling and transportation of Cobalt-60, the most widely used industrial radioisotope. Cobalt-60 is a man-made radioisotope of Cobalt-59, a naturally occurring non-radioactive element, that is made to order for radiation therapy and a wide range of industrial processing applications including sterilization of medical disposables, food irradiation, etc. The shipment of a Cobalt-60 source is the last step in a long and detailed manufacturing and quality control
1018
STATUS
REPORT-FOOD
IRRADIATION
IN THE UNITED
KINGDOM
W. R. BRADFORD Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Great Westminster House, Horseferry Road, London SWlP 2AE. U.K. Ahstract-Commercialisation of food irradiation requires progress on two main fronts, firstly the demonstration of technical feasibility, and secondly the “administrative” aspects such as legislation and public acceptability. In the U.K. during the past few years, effort has been directed principally towards establishment of a firm basis for orderly introduction of the process, should that be the decision of Government. The Report of the Advisory Committee on Irradiated and Novel Foods (appointed by the Government to advise on all aspects of the irradiation of food) was published in 1986. After a period for comment, the Committee considered the representations received and provided further advice to Government in November 1987. The Government announced in February 1988 that it accepted the Committee’s advice that under the conditions prescribed, irradiated food is safe and wholesome; nevertheless, the present general prohibition would be maintained until the Government was satisfied that effective regulatory controls could be drawn up for irradiation of specific foods, “in order to bring about good industrial and marketing practices and ensure informed consumer choice”. (It is accepted that labelling of irradiated food and ingredients would be necessary to ensure consumer choice.) The Working Party is very conscious of the need for any U.K. legislation to take account of and be consistent with the Codex General Standard for Irradiated Foods. Another of the factors to be considered is the availability of detection tests. Research into methods of detection is being carried out both in the Ministry’s own laboratories and by several outside organisations under contract. REFERENCES Bradford W. R. (1988) Aspects of Implementation of Food Irradiation and Identification of Irradiated Products. ESNA 1988 Report of Working Group 1. HMSO (1986) Report on the Safety and Wholesomeness of Irradiated Foods. ISBN 0 11321059 0.
THE STATUS OF FOOD IRRADIATION PROGRAMS REGULATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES
AND
J. S. SIVINSKI Director, Radiation Technology Programs, CHZM Hill, Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.A. Abstract-The federal and state food irradiation programs in the United States are becoming increasingly more active in nature and broader in scope. The major drivers for these dynamic changes are the promulgation of food irradiation regulations by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the awareness by the U.S. Congress that the technology transfer function must be supported in the areas of demonstration and public information. Cooperative programs between the U.S. Department of Energy and local sponsors have been mandated and funded by the Congress on a continuing basis in six regions of the United States. These programs are directed toward the demonstrations of the utility of the technology on regional agricultural commodities and on regional problems. The six local sponsors may choose the source that is most appropriate to their needs of those specified in the FDA and Codex regulations. Two have already selected linear accelerator technology, one will use Cobalt-60 and the remainder are in either the feasibility study or decision-making processes. It is anticipated that at least one facility will be operational by January 1990, with the remainder becoming operational throughout the next 2 years.
TRANSPORT
AND DISPOSAL OF COBALT-60 IRRADIATION SOURCES
INDUSTRIAL
P. KUNSTADT Nordion International
Inc., 447 March Road, P.O. Box 13500, Kanata, Ontario, Canada K2K 1X8
Abstract-This paper deals with safety aspects of the handling and transportation of Cobalt-60, the most widely used industrial radioisotope. Cobalt-60 is a man-made radioisotope of Cobalt-59, a naturally occurring non-radioactive element, that is made to order for radiation therapy and a wide range of industrial processing applications including sterilization of medical disposables, food irradiation, etc. The shipment of a Cobalt-60 source is the last step in a long and detailed manufacturing and quality control