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Irradiation: International News and Links
Updated June 21, 2005
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International and Australia/NZ News and Links
International
- May 13, 2005: Haryana gets India's first multipurpose irradiator: intended for vegetables, fruits, onions, potatoes, pulses, basmati rice, wheat, flour, mutton, etc.
- May 23, 2005: Philippine government seeks funding for irradiation facility for mangoes
- April 12, 2005: Canadians should take notice of Bill C-27, which would weaken Canada's food import laws and allow irradiated US products in.
- January 5, 2005: Fruit growers in Mindinao, Philippines, seek export to foreign markets
- November 28, 2004: Indian scientists suggest generic approval for food irradiation
- September 13, 2004: Saudi Arabia allows import of irradiated foods
- August 24, 2004: Health Canada calls for irradiation of more food
- August 20, 2004: Pakistan mango growers demand irradiation
- June 29, 2004: Philippine NGO points out irradiation's negatives
- November 25, 2003: Philippines mango irradiation facility moves ahead with aid from U.S.
- May 26, 2003: Irish shops to remove 10 irradiated supplements.
- May 21, 2003: Philippines look for $10 million U.S. grant for export of irradiated fruit to U.S.
- May 19, 2003: Thailand looking to export irradiated fruit to U.S.
- February 5, 2003: Irradiation will reduce the cost of Philippine mango shipments to U.S.
- Januarceby 29, 2003: CANADIANS: Comment now on food irradiation proposals.
- January 29, 2003: US approval of irradiation for imported fruits is expected to boost exports from the Philippines, especially mango, papaya, banana and pineapple.
- December 19, 2002: Consumers win as European Parliament Rejects Expanded Food Irradiation
- December 3, 2002: Health Canada will approve irradiation of ground beef, poultry, shrimp and mangos. Has list of approvals.
- October 21, 2002: Report reveals EU states generally comply with EU directive on irradiation, except for supplements. Contains a summary of irradiation's status in Europe.
- October 21, 2002: Canada irradiation update. Also see below.
- August 2, 2002: Irradiation facilities will be built outside Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, for irradiating fish, and in Bangkok, Thailand, for 200 million pounds of fruit, flowers, and vegetables annually, primarily for export.
- February 14, 2002: The governments of Thailand, Vietnam, Guatemala, and Mexico have signed nonbinding agreements to build irradiation plants to irradiate fruit, chicken, and shrimp.
- January 17, 2002: Philippines: The Visayas Chamber of Mango Industry, Inc. (VCMI) is interested in constructing an irradiation facility for mangoes. Negotiations are ongoing for the chamber to undertake the project in a joint venture with an American company.
- October 3, 2001: Association of European Consumers is holding an International Meeting on Food Irradiation in Brussels on October 17th.AEC Newsletter contains news from and about AEC activities and comments and opinions from AEC and AEC member oganisations. Newsletter de l'AEC N°6 - Septembre 2001 - Version Francaise - PDF
- August 20, 2001: Brussels: The European Commission has delayed action a proposal that would legalize the irradiation of several classes of food, including herbs, dried fruit, cereal flakes, shrimp, frog legs, and certain chicken and egg products. The proposal would override the bans and tight restrictions on irradiated food that exist in a majority of the EU's 15 nations. EC officials reported that "consumer organisations are either totally against additional authorisations or would like to see this technique applied as restrictively as possible." This is a major development with major repercussions. Among them, the decision has led the Codex Alimentarius Commission to delay a proposal of its own that would significantly weaken international food irradiation standards. Read the EC's report on this issue.
- July 14, 2001: Brazil will build a network of irradiation facilities for meat, fruits and vegetables. Brazil is the world's second largest chicken producer. Its fruit and vegetable market uses over 84 billion pounds annually, according to United Nations' FAO.
- June 29, 2001: Saudi Arabia plans to build a string of irradiation facilities.
- May 31, 2001: Canada deregulates poultry inspection. More contamination=more need for irradiation. See Dec. 6, 2000 news story below.
- March 23, 2001: France's Food Authority (AFSSA) approves irradiation of human and animal food products as long as the practice did not replace existing food hygiene standards and as long as it was used correctly on hygienic food. (short report in French).
- January 7, 2001: Responses from European consumer and industry groups to European Union proposals to extend the list of foods approved for irradiation. (You can download the summary of comments in PDF, which includes the comments of the International Consultative Group on Food Irradiation, which is sponsored by the FAO, IAE and WHO. The ICGFI wants irradiation for basically every food). Note that one of the major arguments in favor of increasing European irradiation is that the U.S. is irradiating food, and that if the EU doesn't permit irradiation, trade problems will follow.
- December 14, 2000: The Canadian Cattlemen's Association (CCA) has announced that it has received a favorable recommendation from Health Canada on its petition to permit the irradiation of ground beef in Canada, moving the regulatory process a step closer to final approval.
- December 6, 2000: Poultry irradiation proposed in Canada
- September 26, 2000: Pros y contras de tratar los alimentos con rayos (Pros and cons of food irradiation) de Univision Online.
- Japanese site opposing food irradiation - in English.
- New Zealand site opposing food irradiation - resources, critique of a government fact sheet, and some different links.
- There is limited data on long-term effects on human health, says the Food Safety Advisory Centre, London, England, which supports labeling. Says that methods exist for testing foods to determine if they have been irradiated.
- May 25, 2000: The economic costs of the Canadian nuclear industry (manufacturer of cobalt-60, used for irradiation) from Canadian anti-nuclear group, large site. Some articles in French.
- January 8, 2005: Australian irradiated mangoes have blotches - possible radiation damage
- May 17, 2004: Another Australian irradiator proposed
- February 2, 2004: Status on Australia/New Zealand irradiation
- August 18, 2003: Australia to import irradiated Philippine fruits
- May 27, 2003: Steritech begins final countdown.
- May 5, 2003: Farmers want to export irradiated Australian fruit to U.S.
- January 29, 2003: Update on the Steritech anti-irradiation camp-out.
- January 29, 2003: "Don't cook our goose": a good summary of the case against irradiation in Australia
- August 24, 2002: Australia-New Zealand Food Authority (now Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ)) has approved irradiation for tropical fruits for export (maximum dose 1 kGray). Comments on technical details of the draft plan #A443 closed on August 7th. Although irradiation was originally proposed just for the fruits, now FSANZ acknowledges irradiation will be used for other purposes (surprise!). We are convinced this opens the door to meat irradiation, which is not yet permitted in Aust/NZ.
- July 22, 2002: Narangba nuclear irradiation plant opponents threatened, terrorized.
- Activist sites: Coordinating site for campaign in Australia: Stop Food Irradiation Alliance. Also try Community Cauldron.
- April 23, 2002: Narangba nuclear irradiation facility to begin construction soon.
- February 27, 2002: New Zealand company seeks to irradiate fruits, hopes to penetrate U.S. market; consumers not interested and "a public education campaign is necessary."
- September 28, 2001: An American irradiation company has petitioned the Australia/New Zealand Food Authority to allow irradiation of tropical fruits. The rationale is that irradiation will allow export of Australian fruit to New Zealand, but if the petition is approved Australia/NZ would also not be able to exclude irradiated tropical fruit from Southeast Asia. Comment period ends October 31. Read the petition in PDF.
- September 27, 2001: On September 13, Australia's first ever food irradiation application was approved for herbs, spices and herbal infusions. (However, they did not allow the nuts, oilseeds and tea originally in the petition!) Also, Senator Robert Hill has just approved the proposed Narangba cobalt-60 nuclear irradiation facility under the EPBC Act. This facility will be used for irradiation.
- August 2001: A U.S. irradiation company applied to Australia/New Zealand food Authority for the irradiation of tropical fruit in May 2001. There will be a round of public submission in mid-September 2001. The application is to control fruit fly for quarantine purposes, for exports mainly to New Zealand and also products to be sold on the Australian market.
- July 23, 2001: ANZFA, the Government food authority, is now proposing irradiation for certain nuts, plus herbs and spices. These would be the first foods allowed for irradiation. If Australia exports irradiated food, it must allow irradiated imports. Deadline for comments: Aug. 15, 2001.
- March 1, 2001: Australia news: Industry may take over food safety. The Federal Government has introduced legislation with the potential to give business interests effective control of the regulatory body supervising Australia's food health and safety standards. It would weaken the opportunities for State health ministers to amend the decisions of the Australia New Zealand Food Authority. The new law seeks to alter the existing board, giving industry groups up to five out of the 10 members. They now have one. It would also weaken the consumer presence and add agriculture and trade ministers (only the health minister is on the board now).
- February 15, 2001: Update on anti-irradiation campaign in Australia.
- August 23, 2000: Australia: Eat Well SA, a public-interest project encouraging South Australians to eat healthy food.
- December 6, 2000: Australia/New Zealand Food Authority closes comment period on application A413 to allow irradiation of nuts, oilseeds, herbs, spices and teas. No decision yet.
- October 17, 2000: News on nuclear irradiation in Queensland, Australia.