Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on food and food ingredients treated with ionising radiation for the year 2015

Ionising radiation of foods and food ingredients is a physical technique used for several purposes, e.g. to reduce the incidence of food-borne diseases by reducing pathogenic organisms, to reduce loss of food by premature ripening, germination or sprouting and to get food rid of organisms harmful to plant or plant products. Directive 1999/2/EC of the European 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 lays down specific provisions for the manufacturing, marketing and importation of treated foods and food ingredients.

Any irradiated foodstuff containing one or more irradiated food ingredient must be labelled with the words “irradiated” or “treated with ionising radiation”. If an irradiated product is used as an ingredient in a compound food, the same words shall accompany its designation in the list of ingredients. In the case of products sold in bulk, these words shall appear together with the name of the product on a display or notice above or beside the container in which the products are placed. To enforce correct labelling or to detect non-authorised products, several analytical methods have been standardised by the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN), following a mandate given by the Commission.

In accordance with Article 7(3) of Directive 1999/2/EC, Member States forward to the Commission every year:
– the results of their checks carried out in the ionising radiation facilities, in particular regarding the categories and quantities of food and food ingredients treated and the doses administered, and
– the results of their checks carried out at the product marketing stage and the methods used to detect treatment with ionising radiation.

Article 7(4) of the same Directive requires the Commission to subsequently publish annually in the Official Journal of the European Union:
– the details of the approved irradiation facilities in the Member States, as well as any changes in their status; and
– a report on the information provided every year by the national supervisory authorities.
The present report, produced accordingly, covers the period from 1 January to 31 December 2015 and includes the information forwarded to the European Commission by the 28 Member States and one EFTA country (Norway).

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