Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 8 Jul 1993

Vol. 433 No. 7

Written Answers. - Irradiated Food Importation.

Trevor Sargent

Question:

56 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Health the quantity of irradiated food imported into Ireland; the facilities available to monitor such imports; and if the Government is prepared to use its power under the Food Hygiene Regulations and the Sale of Food and Drugs Act to ban the importation of irradiated food as numerous authorities such as the US Food and Drugs Administration and the European Parliament's Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Protection have expressed fear that irradiated food may not be fit for human consumption.

Minister for Health (Mr. Howlin)

Protracted discussions on a draft EC Directive on the irradiation of food have not yet concluded. The main provisions of the proposed directive are: (a) only categories of food which appear on a positive list may be subjected to treatment with ionizing radiation at prescribed doses; (b) the ionization units for foods are subject to prior authorisation by the responsible authorities, as designated by each member state; (c) the installations and procedure and the foods treated with ionizing radiation are subject to official controls; (d) irradiated foods must comply with specific labelling rules requiring detailed information and (e) irradiated foods from third countries are admitted into the Community provided that they fulfil the provisions of the directive.

The Food Safety Advisory Committee (a committee of experts appointed jointly by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry, and myself) reported in 1989 as follows:

The Food Safety Advisory Committee recommends that the Draft Directive 88/336 (entitled).

"Proposal for a Council Directive on the approximation of the Laws of the Member States concerning foods and food ingredients treated with ionising radiation"

be accepted in principle, because the technology presents no hazard to the health of the consumer when applied in accordance with the conditions proposed, and it will be another weapon in the armoury against food borne diseases, and will help to reduce spoilage of foodstuffs.

As some time has elapsed since this report was first prepared I have asked the Food Safety Advisory Committee to review their 1989 report in light of any developments which may have occurred.