Foods and food ingredients treated with ionising radiation. Framework Directive

The European Commission adopted a report on food irradiation in the EU, which includes information on whether irradiated food placed on the EU market is correctly labelled. The report, the first of its kind, is based on the results of checks undertaken by national authorities in the Member States. In general, the report indicated a high level of compliance with the requirements of the EU food irradiation Directive 1999/2/EC. The checked irradiation facilities complied with most of the provisions and only a very limited number of irradiated samples have been detected which were not labelled or which were not authorised for irradiation treatment, with the exception of dietary supplements. For the latter, the Commission asked the Member States to control this sector and expects a sharp decrease of the number of irradiated dietary supplements as a result of these checks. It should be stated that the United Kingdom authorities found evidence of irradiation in 42% of certain dietary supplements. As most of these supplements cannot be irradiated legally in the EU, the Commission has asked the other Member States to check this particular sector. The Commission invites the Member States to regularly perform the necessary checks on irradiation facilities and on food products in order to enforce the requirements of the Directive in the whole EU. The Commission will develop guidelines to ensure more uniform reporting of results.�