Tuesday 17 July 2001

Public comment invited on food irradiation and genetically modified insect protected cotton

The Australia New Zealand Food Authority (ANZFA) today called for a second round of public consultation on an application from an Australian company, Steritech Pty Ltd, to irradiate herbs, spices, herbal infusions, peanuts, almond, cashews and pistachio nuts. ANZFA also sought comment on an application to approve an insect protected cotton as a genetically modified food.

Food irradiation

The Steritech application is the first ANZFA has received since the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Council (ANZFSC) the approved Standard A17, Irradiation of Food, for inclusion in the Australian Food Standards Code in August 1999.

The Managing Director of ANZFA, Mr Ian Lindenmayer said ' Last year ANZFA called for public and industry comments on an issues paper about this application and submissions closed on 6 December 2000. By the end of June 2001, ANZFA had received submissions from a total of 303 signatories, including 269 individuals, thirteen community groups, eleven industry associations and ten government agencies. I would like to thank all those submitters for taking the time to let us know their views.

' ANZFA has now carried out detailed scientific assessment of this application obtaining information from the scientific literature, other regulatory bodies, both in Australia and New Zealand and overseas, an independent expert in the field and the response to the first public consultation.

' Standard A17 prohibits irradiation or re-irradiation of foods other than for specifically - approved purposes. Approval can only be given on a case-by-case basis, and applicants must demonstrate that irradiation is necessary to improve the safety of the food or for technological reasons. ANZFA is adamant that any recommendation to irradiate food must adhere strictly to these provisions,' Mr Lindenmayer said.

Steritech is seeking approval to irradiate these foods to control:

Irradiation is already being used for the treatment of herbs in 24 countries and of spices in 42 countries.

If this application is approved, it will permit the company to use irradiation instead of chemicals such as ethylene oxide, propylene oxide, phosphine and methyl bromide which are currently used to kill the microbial contaminants and pests that commonly occur in these foods. This will reduce the presence of residues of such chemicals in our food supply.

After the second public consultation process, the ANZFA Board will finalise its recommendations to ANZFSC which will then make the final decision on the Steritech application.

Fact Sheet: Food Irradiation - General Information

Fact Sheet: Food Irradiation - Status report on Steritech Pty Ltd application to irradiate food

Application A413: Irradiation of herbs and spices, nuts, seeds and teas

GM Insect Protected Cotton

ANZFA is also calling for a first round of public comment on an application received from Monsanto Australia Ltd to approve food derived from a cotton line genetically modified to produce Bt protein that protects against insect attack.

Application A436 - Insect Protected Cotton

 

ANZFA web site: www.foodstandards.gov.au or www.foodstandards.govt.nz