Recent situation of food irradiation

This paper summarized recent situation of food irradiation from July 2002 to June 2003. The Codex General Standard for Irradiated Foods and the Codex Recommended International Code of Practice for Radiation Processing of Food were revised by 26th CAC, 2003. The maximum absorbed dose delivered to a food should not exceed 10 kGy, except when necessary to achieve a legitimate technological purpose. Guidelines for the Use of Irradiation as a Phytosanitary Measure were carried by 5th Interim Commission on Phytosanitary Measures (ICPM) in April 2003. The Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) permitted irradiation of eight kinds of foods. Scientific Committee on Food (SCF) in EU published Revision of the Opinion of the Scientific Committee on Food on the irradiation of food. In United States, the amount of irradiated beef is increasing. To keep safety of our foods in today's changing environment, Parliament in Japan passed the Food Safety Basic Law in May, 2003. Under the law, the Japanese government promotes several key food safety policies. (S.Y.)