WRITTEN QUESTION P-2395/02

by Hiltrud Breyer (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(30 July 2002)

Subject: Testing for illegally irradiated, unlabelled food products by Member States

A UK Food Standards Agency survey revealed in June 2002 that products sold in the UK are being irradiated in breach of food regulations. Herbs, spices, dietary supplements, prawn and shrimps were tested. None were labelled as irradiated, in breach of EU and UK law. 42 % (58 out of 138) of the dietary supplements had been irradiated or contained an irradiated ingredient. Five prawn and shrimp samples and one spice sample had also been irradiated. In the UK, only correctly labelled irradiated herbs and spices are currently permitted.

Unregulated food irradiation is a potential health hazard, and breaches of irradiation labelling laws mislead consumers. The sale of illegally irradiated, unlabelled foods has occurred repeatedly within the EU in recent years, despite the fact that detection tests are now available. Such foods could still be on sale to consumers in many EU Member States, especially in those States that conduct no irradiation detection surveys.

What action is the Commission planning to take following the alarming results of the FSA survey?

How does the Commission make sure that the demands of Directives 1999/2/EC(1) and 1999/3/EC(2) are being fulfilled by the Member States?

Is the Commission able to give information on the number and results of irradiation detection surveys in the Member States?

(1) OJ L 66, 13.3.1999, p. 16.

(2) OJ L 66, 13.3.1999, p. 24.

Réponse donnée par M. Byrne au nom de la Commission

(20 September 2002)

Directive 1999/2/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 22 February 1999 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States concerning foods and food ingredients treated with ionising radiation became applicable on 20 September 2000. All irradiated foods on the market have to comply with the requirements of Directive 1999/2/EC since 20 March 2001.

The irradiation of dried aromatic herbs, spices and vegetable seasonings is authorised in the Community (Directive 1999/3/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 22 February 1999 on the establishment of a Community list of food and food ingredients treated with ionising radiation). In addition, five Member States maintain national authorisations(1) for certain foods in accordance with Article 4(4) of Directive 1999/2/EC.

According to Article 6 of Directive 1999/2/EC any irradiated food or any irradiated food ingredient of a compound food need to be labelled by the words irradiated or treated with ionising radiation.

For the enforcement of the correct labelling or for the detection of irradiated non-authorised products, several analytical methods have been standardised by the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN), following a mandate given by the Commission.

According to Article 7(3) of Directive 1999/2/EC the Member States shall forward to the Commission each year:

- the results of checks carried out in the irradiation facilities, and

- the results of checks carried out at the product marketing stage.

Some Member States did not transpose the Directives 1999/2/EC and 1999/3/EC into national law in time, i.e. until 20 September 2000. The Commission launched infringement procedures against these Member States. Meanwhile, the Directives have been transposed by all Member States.

The Commission requested the Member State authorities to submit the results of checks carried out in the irradiation facilities and the results of checks carried out at the product marketing stage for the period of 20 September 2000 to 31 December 2001. The Commission is currently compiling this information in a report entitled First food irradiation report of the European Community which will be published in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

In the United Kingdom, the authorities have detected that 42 % of certain dietary supplements on the market are irradiated. Most of these products are not very common (aloé vera, alfalfa, cat's claw, devil's claw, garlic, ginger, ginkgo biloba, ginseng, guarana, kava kava, saw palmetto, silymarin, turmeric). As the treatment of most of these products by ionising radiation is not allowed in the Community, the Commission informed the Member States about these findings in the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health and requested the Member States to check this sector in order to ensure that the requirements of the Directive are respected.

With the exception of these dietary supplements, the results from Member States' food control authorities show however that in general only a few irradiated products are on the market which are not labelled as irradiated (about 0,5 %). These products are mostly spices, herbs and foods containing spices or herbs as well as a small number of frog legs, shrimps, prawns and vegetables.

In total more than 6 500 food samples have been checked of which, together with the irradiated dietary supplements in the United Kingdom, about 1,5 % where irradiated but not labelled. Some of them, in particular most of the dietary supplements, are not authorised for treatment by ionising radiation in the Community. The Commission expects that the number of irradiated dietary supplements will decrease sharply as a consequence of additional checks by the food control authorities of the Member States. On the basis of these results, the Commission draws the preliminary conclusion that the compliance of food business operators with the provisions of Directive 1999/2/EC is good.

Further information about food irradiation is available via the following web site of DG Health and Consumer Protection of the Commission: http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/fs/sfp/sfp_index_en.html.

(1) OJ C 174, 20.7.2002.