Transatlantic disagreement over irradiation has been rumbling on for years. Famously reluctant to authorise the irradiation of food products, the European Union is now coming under fire from the UN. With legislation on irradiation across the EU riddled with loopholes that Member States are quick to exploit, the EU may be forced to revise its stance. Keith Nuthall reports:

The UN’s Food and Agricultural Organisation has warned that the cautious approach taken by the European Commission towards the authorisation of irradiation for food products could expose the EU to disputes proceedings at the World Trade Organisation, launched by exporting countries. A note from its International Consultative Group on Food Irradiation has called on the Commission to reverse its refusal to include a number of foodstuffs from an approved list for irradiation, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, cereals, starchy tubers, fish, casin, rice flour, blood products, red meat and poultry, even though irradiation has been supported for these foodstuffs by the EU Scientific Committee on Food.

Said the note: “The argument that some or all of these products ‘are not irradiated in Member States or only in a very small amount’ is not sufficiently valid to exclude them from the list.” At present,

“The only irradiated products approved for sale across the EU are dried aromatic herbs, spices and vegetable seasonings, although there is a loophole……… “

the only irradiated products approved for sale across the EU are dried aromatic herbs, spices and vegetable seasonings, although – confusingly – Member States have been allowed to maintain separate national authorisations. This loophole has been exploited by Belgium, France, Italy, the Netherlands and the UK, which allows the sale of irradiated potatoes, yams, onions, garlic, shallots, green vegetables, fruit, mushrooms, cereals, poultry and blood products, for instance.

Nonetheless, this would not let Brussels off the hook, it seems. The consultative group pointed out that under the WTO’s Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, (SPS), member countries are required to “base their regulations on the basis of Codex Alimentarius standards with regard to food safety,” which authorise irradiation for a “wide variety of food products.” If these are ignored by the EU, an exporting country could launch a WTO case, which might force Brussels to permit the sale of a large number of irradiated foodstuffs by ruling that certain irradiation bans are illegal trade barriers.

Lack of consumer confidence

Despite this, the Commission’s caution has been welcomed by an EU food industry sensitive to the doubts of its consumers. The Confederation of the Food and Drink Industries of the EU (CIAA) was typical in its statement: “Though the industry believes that this technology can offer genuine food safety benefits, it is unlikely that food manufacturers will make use of (it) until such time as consumer confidence…is secured.” Indeed, it cited the view of several sectors, (meat, dehydrated fruits, cereal flakes, tea), which “have indicated that they were not in favour of allowing ionising radiation to treat their products to avoid it being used to substitute good hygiene practices and therefore lead to unfair trading practices.”

Similar statements were made by the Liaison Centre for the Meat Processing Industry in the EU (CLITRAV), the European Livestock and Meat Trading Union (UECBV) and the European Union of the Potato Trade (EUROPATAT). All were sent to the Commission, in response to a consultation round on the subject. And if they were in any doubt about the attitude of consumers, they only have to look at the comments of the European Consumers’ Organisation, (BEUC), which has called for the restrictive licensing of irradiation, only to cases where adequate hygiene could not otherwise be achieved, “in a reasonable way.”

Could encourage careless food handling

The BEUC is concerned that consumers could believe that food is always safer if it has been irradiated, even though that might not be the case, with the technology only reducing bacteria, not sterilising products. “We are concerned about irradiated mechanically recovered chicken meat, offal chicken and egg white…

“there is a risk that (consumers) will fail to take necessary measures to prevent cross-contamination”

there is a risk that (consumers) will fail to take necessary measures to prevent cross-contamination,” it said.

Euro Coop, (the European Community of Consumer Cooperatives), was similarly lukewarm, calling for future authorisations to be granted on a product-by-product basis, and only where:

• Irradiated foodstuffs command a small proportion of total food intake;
  
• Other methods fail to produce food safety;
  
• There is a significant benefit to consumers.

As a result, it is opposing the current proposed list of products earmarked for irradiation approval.

By contrast, the International Association of Industrial Irradiation was, unsurprisingly, more bullish, calling for more products to receive approval for radiation treatment. It called for the EU to allow irradiation of red meat and poultry as “constantly food poisoning cases due to E coli are reported.” It took a similar line regarding fish and shellfish, saying “to improve the hygienic conditions during the production of these foodstuffs is not enough in itself to avoid the outbreak of illnesses caused by salmonella, listeria, campylobacter or E coli.” It claimed that market forces would prevent manufacturers from over-exposing food, saying: “It is a self-limiting process: high dose treatment increases costs and reduces the sensory qualities, making it unacceptable to the manufacturer.”

It also added that irradiation had been made more necessary by the Montreal Protocol, which has outlawed methyl bromide, the most widely used fumigant to control insect infestation. Irradiation was a safe alternative, said the association.

By Keith Nuthall, just-food.com correspondent

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