UN Food Commission Lifts Irradiation Limits

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UN Food Commission Lifts Irradiation Limits

 

 

ROME, Italy, July 9, 2003 (ENS) - A United Nations commission that is the

highest international body on food standards has adopted an agreement covering

the assessment of risks to consumers from foods derived from biotechnology,

including genetically modified foods, and irradiated products.

The Codex Alimentarius Commission, a subsidiary of both the UN Food and

Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization on Monday adopted

more than 50 new safety and quality standards, some new guidelines, and others

that are revisions of old standards.

The guidelines cover food safety, not environmental risks. They establish broad

general principles to make analysis and management of risks related to biotech

foods uniform across Codex's 169 member countries.

Genetically modified potatoes are among the foods covered by the new Codex

principles. (Photo courtesy FreeFoto)The guidelines include pre-market safety

evaluations, product tracing for recall purposes, and post-market monitoring.

They cover the scientific assessment of genetically modified plants, such as

corn, soybeans or potatoes, and foods and beverages derived from genetically

modified micro-organisms, including cheese, yogurt and beer.

The guidelines include provisions for determining if the product may provoke

unexpected allergies in consumers.

Secretary of the Codex Commission Alan Randell called the new guidelines an

important step towards understanding the risks associated with foods derived

from biotechnology. " Now, any country, regulatory body or other organization or

individual will be able to compare the risk assessments of a given food derived

from biotechnology with the assessments done by other countries, " he said.

Secretary of the Codex Commission Alan Randell (Photo courtesy FAO)The

commission adopted a controversial new standard for irradiated foods that allows

the foods to be subjected to higher levels of gamma rays to kill bacteria and

increase shelf life.

Codex removed the maximum radiation dose of 10 kiloGray to which foods can be

treated, which had been in place since 1979. Countries wishing to use a higher

dose will have to demonstrate that irradiating foods above 10 kiloGray meets a

" legitimate technological purpose, " a standard that was not further defined.

The commission determined that such levels would eliminate bacterial spores and

the radiation resistant pathogenic bacteria Clostridium botulinum, and also

reduce the need to use more toxic chemical methods of combating bacteria, some

of which can be harmful to the environment.

Today 37 countries irradiate food using 170 irradiators. In the United States

500,000,000 tons of food are irradiated each year, including spices, flour,

fresh fruits and vegetables, pork, poultry and beef.

But consumer groups in the United States, Canada and Italy today condemned the

" weakening " of international food irradiation rules, which they say will allow

any food to be irradiated at any dose, regardless of how high.

" This is the final straw in the reckless pursuit of using irradiation, which is

still an experimental technology, to solve complicated food safety problems, "

said Andrea Peart of the Sierra Club of Canada. " This decision is a severe blow

against the rights of nations to establish their own food safety laws. It is

undemocratic on its face. "

The groups say Codex has ignored documented evidence that irradiated foods may

not be safe for human consumption. They say irradiation may destroy vitamins and

promote the formation of chemicals linked to cancer and birth defects.

Among the toxic chemicals formed in irradiated foods are 2-alkylcyclobutanones

(2-ACBs), which have been found to promote cancer development and cause genetic

damage in rats, and cause genetic damage to human cells, the consumer groups

point out.

Gamma ray used to irradiate food. (Photo courtesy University of Tennessee

College of Engineering)Other toxic chemicals that have been detected in

irradiated foods include compounds that are known or suspected to cause cancer

or birth defects, including benzene, ethanol, toluene and methyl ethyl ketone.

Giulio Labbro Francia of the Italian consumer’s group Movimento Dei Consumatori

said, " We are at a loss to explain Codex’s contention that irradiated foods are

safe to eat in the face of so much evidence to the contrary. Now consumers

throughout the world are in danger of the unknown health impacts. "

The irradiation decision was made over the objections of 10 countries, including

Austria, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Mexico, and Spain.

" The UN and WHO have abandoned their mission to protect the health and welfare

of the world’s population, " said Andrianna Natsoulas of the U.S. organization

Public Citizen. " People who eat irradiated foods will become guinea pigs in what

will amount to one of the largest feeding experiments in history. "

Randell defended the lifting of radiation limits for foods. “This is a really

important breakthrough,” he said. “For the consumer it means a potential for

higher levels of food safety because of the protection offered by food

irradiation. For example, it can be applied to spices which can carry bacteria

resistant to other treatments. Irradiated foods are proven safe and do not

contain any radioactive traces.”

Codex standards are enforceable through the World Trade Organization, so member

nations with food irradiation laws stricter than the new Codex standard could

have their laws challenged and overruled. Currently, only Brazil has a food

irradiation law in keeping with the new Codex standard, meaning that laws in

every other nation may have to be revised.

" The commission made some very important decisions for food safety. The most

important of these was to extend food safety systems to small and medium sized

enterprises, especially in developing countries. This will help these small

businesses produce safe food for consumers and improve their prospects for

trade, " Randell said.

Ground beef and other meats will be subject to Codex principles of meat

hygiene. (Photo courtesy FreeFoto)Responding to consumer concerns about meat,

the Codex commission adopted standards that will improve the safety of meat by

establishing principles of meat hygiene. A Code of Practice on good animal

feeding calls for stricter and more systematic controls over sources of

contamination.

Codex adopted new quality standards for chocolate based on the amount of cocoa

in chocolate and chocolate products. The new standard sets a minimum 35 percent

of cocoa solids in products marketed as chocolate and a minimum 20 percent in

chocolate type products, such as chocolate flakes. The new standard requires the

minimum cocoa content to be clearly marked on the packaging of all chocolate

flavored products.

The Codex Alimentarius Commission elected Stuart Slorach of Sweden as its new

chairperson, replacing Thomas Billy of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Slorach is deputy director-general of the Swedish National Food Administration

and a former vice chair of the commission.

 

 

 

 

Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2003.

 

 

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