Dec 01 2012 December 1, 2012 December 1, 2012 NoComment by Mike Callicrate

NOBULL: FDA allows ionizing radiation of meat, poultry products

Posted in
Feedstuffs

FDA allows ionizing radiation of meat, poultry products
(11/30/2012)
Tim Lundeen
In two Nov. 30 Federal Register documents, the Food & Drug Administration has amended the food additive regulations to provide for the safe use ionizing radiation to reduce levels of foodborne pathogens and extend shelf life of meat and poultry products.

In the first final rule, FDA approved the safe use of a 4.5 kilogray (kGy) maximum absorbed dose of ionizing radiation to treat unrefrigerated (as well as refrigerated) uncooked meat, meat byproducts and certain meat food products.

In the second final rule, FDA amended the food additive regulations to increase the maximum dose of ionizing radiation permitted in the treatment of poultry products, to include specific language intended to clarify the poultry products covered by the regulations, and to remove the limitation that any packaging used during irradiation of poultry shall not exclude oxygen.

Both actions are in response to petitions filed in 1999 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety & Inspection Service, and both became effective Nov. 30.