Australia considering irradiated food

Press, 10 March 1987, Page 46

Australia considering irradiated food

By

MELISSA SWEET

NZPA-AAP Sydney The idea of eating chicken which has been on the shelf for weeks and which is still bug-free because of a radioactive “zapping” may not sound too appealing. However, as a Federal inquiry into irradiation heard in Sydney, Australians have been using irradiated products for at least 15 years. Chances are that the cork from the wine bottle you just opened was sterilised by irradiation. If you can’t afford bottles of wine, the containers inside many wine flasks also are irradiated, not to mention most medical equipment and some cosmetics, creams and flowers. Irradiation sterilises products by exposing them to radiation, from either cobalt 60 or from an electronic beam. Three large commercial irradiation plants using the highly radioactive cobalt 60 now function in Australia. Steritech has plants in Sydney and Dandenong, Victoria, and Johnson and Johnson has another at Botany in Sydney. According to Steritech, irradiation is completely safe and has not attracted much controversy over the years. The situation has changed since talk began of irradiating food in Aus-

tralia. A Queensland-based company, Hartfield Pty, Ltd, says it is just waiting for Government go-ahead to build a food irradiation plant, which would use electronic beams, in Brisbane, and Steritech says it would jump at the chance to irradiate food in its existing plants. These groups say irradiated food would not be sold on domestic markets but would open new export markets, mainly in Japan. Irradiation would enable Australia to meet quarantine standards it cannot now meet. Irradiation would also increase the range of food able to be exported because it extends shelf life. For example, irradiated strawberries last for 21 days on the shelf, compared with three or four now. The N.S.W. Health Department has backed food irradiation as an effective weapon against food poisoning. Irradiation would eliminate the biggest cause of food poisoning, the pathogenic organisms which exist naturally in raw chicken, according to the department. Meanwhile, People Against Food Irradiation groups have sprung up throughout the country and the Australian Consumers’ Association (A.C.A.) and Federal Government are holding inquiries into food irradiation.

Although the main responsibility for allowing food irradiation to proceed lies with state governments, the Commonwealth could intervene by banning importation of cobalt 60 for food irradiation, according to Peter Milton, the chairman of the Federal inquiry into irradiation. Mr Milton believes not enough research has been done into the effects of food irradiation on humans, although plenty of tests have been done on animals. He is concerned that the push to introduce food irradiation in Australia seems to be coming mainly from the international nuclear industry. Also, he says, Australia has an obligation to import irradiated food once it exports irradiated food. It would be difficult to monitor the standards set by other countries, he argues. The N.S.W. Nature Conservation Council has described food irradiation as an experiment in unproven technology, with Australian consumers as the guinea pigs. The process is an attempt by the nuclear industry to legitimise the peaceful use of nuclear technology, it says. People Against Food Irradiation groups are concerned that human error in irradiation plants could lead to harm to people, the environment and food.

Not enough research has been done to prove that irradiation does not change the structure and physical properties of food, they say.

Irradiated food would have to be clearly labelled to avoid Australia following the overseas example where irradiated food has been marketed under misleading logos, they say. The Australian Atomic Energy Commission (A.A.E.C.) has backed food irradiation as safe. “Far more can be claimed to be known about the effects of ionising radiation on food than any other form of food treatment,” according to the A.A.E.C.

It says public misconceptions probably will prevent Australia reaping the fullest economic benefits of food irradiation. Meanwhile, the Federal Government has asked the states not to license food irradiation plants until the A.C.A. and its own inquiries are completed. The A.C.A. is due to report to the Federal Health Minister, Neal Blewett, in April, while the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Environment and Conservation will report to Parliament later in the year.

Only time will tell how long it will be until Australians are serving chickenmeat weeks old ...if they ever get the chance.