REGULATORY AND TOXICOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF FOOD IRRADIATION

A major difficulty with food irradiation from a regulatory point of view is that it is related to many food issues, such as safety, labeling and consumer acceptance. Food that is intentionally irradiated is judged to be adulterated under current law unless there is a regulation for such use. As a first step in the rulemaking process, the Bureau of Foods has developed criteria useful for evaluating the safety of irradiated food by considering present knowledge in radiation chemistry and toxicity testing. These criteria will be used for evaluating existing toxicology studies and for developing policy on food irradiation.