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        Food Ingredients & Packaging

Irradiation of Food & Packaging

                        
                Industry Info About Irradiated Food & Packaging Home
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          Food Ingredients & Packaging
          Irradiation of Food & PackagingFood Ingredients & Packaging Irradiation of Food & Packaging
  	
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    PrintFDA is responsible for regulating the use of irradiation in the treatment of food and food packaging. This authority derives from the 1958 Food Additives Amendment to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) where Congress explicitly defined a source of radiation as a food additive (Section 201(s) of the FD&C Act). The 1958 Food Additives Amendment also provides that a food is adulterated (that is, it cannot be marketed legally) if it has been irradiated, unless the irradiation is carried out in conformity with a regulation prescribing safe conditions of use (Section 402(a)(7) of the FD&C Act). Thus, FDA regulates the lawful use of irradiation through the food additive petition process, the completion of which results in the promulgation of a regulation published in the Federal Register prescribing the approved use.

This website is intended to serve as a source of general as well as more specific regulatory and scientific information about the irradiation of food and packaging for consumers, representatives from industry, and other stakeholders.

Scientific and Historical Background

Irradiation of Prepackaged Food: 2004
	Packaging for Foods Treated with Ionizing Radiation
	Overview of Irradiation of Food and PackagingRegulations Published in 21 Code of Federal Regulations Part 179

Irradiation in the Production, Processing and Handling of Food
	Subpart B - Radiation and Radiation Sources
	Subpart C – Packaging Materials for Irradiated Foods

                                                                                  Content current as of:
      09/27/2018
                  
                   
Regulated Product(s)
		 Food & BeveragesIrradiation of Food & Packaging                
                          

                        Industry Info About Irradiated Food & Packaging
 
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