72. The 32nd CCFAC requested WHO, in collaboration with FAO and IAEA, to revise the Codex General Standard for Irradiated Foods for circulation, comment and further consideration at the current meeting[28]. The Committee noted that the General Standard was revised on the basis of written and verbal comments presented at the 32nd Session of the CCFAC.
73. In introducing the document, the WHO Representative noted that FAO, IAEA and WHO had confirmed their confidence in the conclusions of the Joint FAO/IAEA/WHO Study Group that food irradiated to any dose appropriate to achieve the intended technical objective was both safe to consume and nutritionally adequate.[29] He noted that concerns about the safety of 2-dodecylcyclobutanone (2-DCB) had been expressed, but that the available scientific evidence did not indicate that 2-DCB posed a public health risk. The Representative of ICGFI noted that further studies on the potential toxicity of 2-DCB would be completed by November 2001 and that preliminary results were negative with regard to genotoxicity and cytotoxicity.
74. The representative of Consumers International questioned the need for high dose irradiation as only a few products causing severe pathogen problems for consumers are traded internationally.
75. The Committee generally agreed with the document as presented and discussed it section-by-section, as follows:
Section 2.2 - Absorbed Dose
76. Some delegations supported the proposal to delete Section 2.2 in regard to the limitation of the average overall dose of 10 kGy in view of the recommendation made by the 1999 Report of the Joint FAO/IAEA/WHO Study Group. Other delegations were of the opinion that the overall average dose absorbed by a food subjected to radiation processing should be expressed as a minimum requirement and provided useful guidance for governments and therefore, the Committee agreed to retain the statement that “The overall average dose absorbed by a food subjected to radiation processing should not exceed 10 kGy” in square brackets so that the Section could be discussed further at the next Session of the CCFAC on the basis of the ICGFI discussions to be held in November 2001. The delegation of the United States observed that the concept of overall average does was not useful or meaningful as this was not a measurable quantity and that references in the standard to absorbed dose should be expressed as minimum or maximum values.
77. The Committee agreed to employ a simplified footnote to the statement concerning minimum and maximum absorbed doses that would merely reference the 1999 Report of the Joint FAO/IAEA/WHO Study Group.
Section 2.3 - Facilities and Control of the Process
78. The Committee decided to delete the term “national” throughout the text, since controls carried out by competent authorities may be performed by higher or lower authorities than the national one. The delegation of India objected to this decision.
Section 3 - Hygiene of Irradiated Foods
79. The Committee agreed that the Codex Recommended International Code of Practice - General Principles of Food Hygiene (CAC/RCP 1-1969, Rev. 3, 1997), including the Annex on the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) System and Guidelines for its Application, should be applied to the process. However, as irradiation was used to control other factors in addition to food safety (e.g., prevention of sprouting and quarantine), the Committee agreed to clarify that HACCP should only be used “where applicable for food safety purposes”.
Section 4.1 - General Requirement
80. The Committee agreed to add the phrase “is of benefit to consumers” to this section as an additional justification for the use of irradiation.
Section 5 - Re-Irradiation
81. The delegation of Australia raised questions concerning the re-irradiation of low moisture foods so as to preclude nutritional losses (paragraph 5.1).
82. In view of its decision concerning Section 2.2 - Absorbed Dose, the Committee also agreed to maintain the statement “The cumulative overall average dose absorbed should not exceed 10 kGy as a result of re-irradiation” in square brackets so that the requirement could be discussed further at the next Session of the CCFAC.
Section 6.2 - Prepackaged Foods Intended for Direct Consumption
83. The representative of Consumers International pointed out that not only prepackaged foods, but all irradiated foods, should be labelled.
New Section 7.0 - Methods of Analysis and Sampling
84. The Committee agreed to add a new Section 7.0 - Methods of Analysis and Sampling as a future addition to the Standard.
Status of the Proposed Draft Revision to the Codex General Standard for Irradiated Foods
85. The Committee agreed on revisions to the text as discussed above as well as other minor amendments, and forwarded the proposed draft revision to the Codex General Standard for Irradiated Foods to the Commission for preliminary adoption at Step 5 (see Appendix VII). The delegation of Germany expressed its reservation to this decision.
Proposed Draft Revision to the Recommended International Code of Practice for the Operation of Irradiation Facilities Used in the Treatment of Foods (Agenda Item 9b)[30]
86. The 32nd CCFAC agreed to request the Executive Committee to consider as new work the proposed draft revision of the Recommended International Code of Practice for the Operation of Irradiation Facilities used in the Treatment of Foods for consistency with the ongoing revision of the General Standard for Irradiated Foods and to incorporate HACCP principles[31]. The 47th Session of the Executive Committee approved the revision to the Code as new work[32].
87. The representative of the ICGFI gave an introduction to the proposed draft revised Code of Practice, including the written comments submitted. The representative of the ICGFI noted that extensive revisions were required because the existing Code emphasized the operation of irradiation facilities rather than food safety aspects and therefore, the title of the Code was revised to “Recommended International Code of Practice for Radiation Processing of Food”. The Codex Secretariat indicated that in view of the fact that the title and content of the revised text had been extensively expanded, the elaboration of the new text was subject to approval as new work by the Codex Alimentarius Commission.
88. The Committee reached the following initial conclusions concerning the Code:
Status of the Proposed Draft Revision of the Recommended International Code of Practice for the Operation of Irradiation Facilities used in the Treatment of Foods
89. The Committee decided that the Recommended International Code of Practice for Radiation Processing of Food would be revised by the Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture based on the above discussions and written comments and would be submitted for circulation, comment and further consideration at the 34th CCFAC. The Committee noted that this initiative would need to be approved by the Commission as new work.
