Although the public is still ignorant, the scale of irradiated foods in China is growing rapidly.
Irradiated food, a topic that once had no secrets, has once again triggered public attention as Japan’s nuclear crisis.
While everyone has not yet understood enough about it, the growth of irradiated food in China is already very fast. As of 2010, the total amount of irradiated food in China has reached more than 200,000 tons, accounting for about half of the world's irradiated food.
I do not know "radiation" in "radiation". This is the current situation of most of us. Concomitantly, it is the lack of standard and supervision of irradiated food in China in the case of doubt about the safety of high-dose irradiated food.
â–¡ The reporter Xiao Jie “In Zhengzhou, if you ask where the isotope research institute is located, few people know that you can just mention 'laser garlic'. Everyone knows.â€
"Laser garlic" is the common name that farmers use to irradiate garlic. "When the most prosperous, starting from the door of our unit, trucks loaded with garlic were parked on the side of the road, one by one, and they were able to queue up two or three kilometers. The traffic police had to come to maintain order."
At the end of April, Zhu Jun, deputy general manager of the Institute of Isotope Research, Henan Academy of Sciences, described the “festival†of the garlic team at a food technology forum in Beijing.
I do not know "radiation" in "radiation"
"We took a lot, but we don't know."
In this forum, this sentence was repeatedly mentioned by a number of irradiated food experts including Zhu Jun.
Irradiated food was once a secret topic.
In the summer of 2009, from the “Radiation Door†incident of instant noodles of several well-known brands to the Cobalt-60 incident in Song County, Henan, irradiation of this technology, which has been used for many years in the food industry, surfaced and caused heated debates.
But before long, the topic of irradiated food gradually faded in the media.
The nuclear crisis in Japan has caused the public to be highly sensitive to "radiation," and has also paid attention to irradiated foods.
On a large domestic mother and baby website, a mother mentioned the topic of irradiated food. She felt that after the nuclear crisis in Japan, she wanted to know more urgently - "Is this radiation the same as that radiation?"
Of the 20 people who followed, there was no lack of knowledge of irradiated food, but more people were surprised - "Halo, only heard of preservatives, did not expect to have rays!"
Nearly two years after the "Radiation Door" incident occurred, many people did not know what the irradiated food was. Reporters rummaged at supermarket food counters. In addition to instant noodles, it was difficult to see other signs of irradiated food.
Although the public is still ignorant, the scale of irradiated foods in China is growing rapidly.
"China is absolutely the world's largest country in irradiated food," said Zhao Yongfu, a researcher at the Institute of Atomic Energy, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences. According to statistics, as of 2010, the total amount of irradiated food in China has reached more than 200,000 tons, accounting for about half of the world's irradiated food.
Zhao Yongfu also disclosed that relevant departments and agencies in China are working hard to promote the development of the food irradiation processing industry in China. It is planned to increase irradiated foods by 3 to 4 times during the “12th Five-Year Plan†period.
Food irradiation technology is a technology that uses gamma rays generated from radioactive sources such as cobalt-60 and neodymium-137, or high-energy electron beams below 10 MeV produced by accelerators to process food and agricultural and sideline products. Among them, the Cobalt-60 irradiator is still the main equipment. Currently, there are more than 250 large-scale devices in operation around the world, and the total installed capacity is about 300 million curies.
China has a large proportion of them.
Prior to this, China had approved six types of irradiated food hygiene standards and 17 items of irradiated food processing standards. “The output value of food involved each year should exceed 30 billion yuan.†Zhao Wenyan, director of the radiation processing professional committee of China Isotope and Radiation Industry Association, told the Scientific Times.
It is understood that over 60 countries in the world have approved the application of food irradiation technology. The main role of food irradiation technology is to suppress germination, insecticide sterilization, improve quality, and keep fresh and storage.
Due to the strong penetrating power of radiation, one of the benefits of irradiation technology is that it is not necessary to open the package, which is convenient and quick and avoids secondary pollution.
Many people believe that this kind of indiscriminate bactericidal and insecticidal method will be in doubt.
Wang Changbao, business manager of Jiangsu Reddy Technologies, spoke about this:
A customer who cooperated for the first time had an eye for delivery and made a mark on the package. As a result, when he received the goods, he found that the mark had not been completely passive. He immediately questioned: "Do you not sterilize our products at all?"
Wang Changbao explained to him. However, this customer still did not trust, took a part back to do storage experiments and found that there are indeed results, then I believe Wang Changbao's words.
As many experts at the conference said, we actually do not know the "radiation" in "radiation."
In addition to the garlic mentioned at the beginning of the article, a considerable portion of the spice and dehydrated vegetable condiment we use daily is irradiated. These foods are easy to carry with microorganisms and pests, the traditional heat sterilization process will volatilize the aroma, and the irradiation technology with the cold treatment characteristics therefore shows its advantages.
According to Zhao Yongfu, China’s exposure to spices and dehydrated vegetables is currently around 100,000 tons, which accounts for about one-third of the world’s radiation, and accounts for about half of China’s irradiated food production.
In recent years, small foods have sprung up in the irradiated food industry, almost on an equal footing with spices. Pickle chicken feet is a typical example. Zhao Yongfu said that if no preservatives are added, the chicken legs can only be stored for 2 to 3 days, while the use of irradiation technology can extend the shelf life to 1 to 6 months. In Sichuan Province alone, the radiation treatment of pickled chicken legs has reached more than 10,000 tons per year.
In addition, frozen foods, white wine, etc. are all areas where the irradiation technology covers a lot.
Irradiated food is like baked sweet potato?
"Everybody associates food irradiation with the atomic bomb. In fact, the two are completely different things," Zhu Jun said.
Experts such as Yan Jianmin and Gao Meishou wrote an article, stating that when the food is irradiated, radiation passes through the stainless steel tube wall to illuminate the food. The energy received by the food is radiation energy, not radioactive material, and the irradiated food is tightly packaged. Therefore, foods cannot be directly contaminated with radioactive substances.
In addition, theoretically speaking, it is necessary to make energy of more than 10 MeV for the component elements in food to induce radiation after irradiation. Within this energy range, even with high irradiation doses, the life span of the isotopes produced by them is very short, and the radioactivity is only 150,000 to 200,000 times of the natural radioactivity of foods. The average gamma ray energy of cobalt-60 is 1.25 MeV, and the gamma ray energy of cerium-137 is only 0.66 MeV, which is much lower than the energy threshold for generating induced ray. Therefore, irradiated food itself does not produce induced radioactivity. The energy of food irradiation sources above 10 MeV is prohibited, which fundamentally eliminates the problem of induced radioactivity.
“Actually, the research on the safety of irradiated food is one of the longest and most successful projects in the world. It used to last for decades, and 30 countries have division of labor to do experiments.†General Manager of Beijing Sanqiang Nuclear Radiation Corporation Wang Chuanxi stressed.
Chinese scholars have also made significant contributions to the world food irradiation community. From 1982 to 1985, on the basis of a large number of animal experiments, China organized a total of 382 irradiated human food trials. The results showed that irradiated foods with an absorbed dose below 10 kGy had no abnormal effects on the human body, thus ending the 10-year-long dispute of lymphoploid irradiation caused by Indian scholars.
As early as 1980, the FAO (FAO)/IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency)/WHO (United Nations WHO) Joint Expert Committee concluded that the average absorbed dose of any food is as high as 10 kGy without toxicological hazards. Requiring toxicological tests, it is also safe in terms of nutrition and microbiology.
Almost every expert will refer to this conclusion when talking about the safety of irradiated food.
Zhu Jun believes that the 1980 conclusion does not need to be mentioned at all. “Because the above-mentioned committee in 1997 proposed that there is no need to set an upper limit for the irradiation dose of food. In 1999, the committee concluded that irradiated foods in doses exceeding 10 kGy are also hygienic and safe.â€
Hu Jinhui, director of the analysis and testing center of the Beijing Municipal Center for Radiation Applied Research, introduced the recommendations of the European Food Safety Agency on irradiated food that she had just received a few days ago. The two subgroups under the agency conducted a survey of the safety of irradiated food last year. One group is responsible for investigating the microbiological safety and bactericidal efficiency of irradiated foods, and the other group is responsible for investigating the chemical safety of irradiated foods.
Finally, the former draws the following conclusion: In irradiated foods, irradiated microbes do not pose new risks to consumers. The latter point of view is that foods that are irradiated produce new chemicals, but these chemicals are mainly hydrocarbons, 2-alkylcyclobutanone, acetaldehyde, etc. These substances are also produced in other food processing. Not unique to irradiation treatment. Moreover, these substances generate less amounts during the irradiation than those produced during the heat treatment.
Dr. Food Engineering, a well-known popular science author, cloudlessly used this analogy: eating radiation-contaminated food is like eating fired food in the mouth, and it is still burning in the stomach; while irradiating foods is like grilling well. Sweet potatoes can be enjoyed at ease.
“People in our industry have to face the public calmly, and there is nothing to be afraid of,†Wang Chuanxi said in a loud voice.
High-dose radiation remains risky However, unlike Wang Chuanxi’s righteousness, some of his peers feel that the topic is “sensitive†and are very cautious in interviewing the Scientific Times reporter.
There are reports that irradiated foods are not so "beautiful."
Hu Jinhui's analysis of the above-mentioned criteria and the findings of the European survey pointed out that apart from affirming the safety of irradiated food, the agency actually expressed the opinion that even if some foods are approved for irradiation, they do not necessarily need to be photographed. "To fully inspect the quantity and status of microorganisms in foods, doses and varieties should not be set in advance."
She bluntly said that some experts said in general that "irradiation will not change the food traits" is wrong. “Irradiation will certainly have an impact on food. I used to irradiate milk and soon solidified. So whether a certain food can be irradiated or not, how much dose needs to be studied.â€
Zhu Jun said that the maximum tolerated doses for food, wheat and flour, rice, and grains are different. Above 1 kGy of irradiated wheat and flour, the viscosity value decreased significantly. After the irradiation of rice over 0.5 kGy, the taste changed significantly. The 0.8 kGy irradiation had a significant effect on the viscosity of corn residue, glutinous rice, and oatmeal.
According to Zhu Jun, at present, the foods that are sent to their units are generally determined according to national standards, combined with the bacteria content, production process, and species characteristics of the products. They also did a lot of research in this area. At the same time, he also expressed a bit of helplessness: "Foreign food manufacturers are generally provided to provide dose data, and all domestic radiation plants provide dose."
"In fact, as an irradiation plant, I am concerned about the radiation process itself. As for the quality of the irradiated product, whether the composition changes, this matter should be taken care of by the food factory." Zhu Jun said.
For example, he said, because the original only the traditional disinfection methods, production is limited, Henan soybean protein production once ranked third in the country. After using irradiation technology, soybean protein production in Henan now ranks second in the country. However, food manufacturers do not have a basic understanding of the dose and do not want to understand it.
"I joked with the people of the food manufacturers that after you finished this soy protein, it wasn't soy protein. He said, 'I don't care, I just don't have any bacteria,'" Zhu Jun said. "There are other food manufacturers who don't justify their use. They don't use such a large dose, but he told you, 'I just want to be sterile'. We have no way."
Zhu Jun’s remarks confirmed the views of some experts: “Because irradiation has a very good sterilization effect, if the dose is increased, the microbial content can even be reduced to zero, and the sterilization time can be greatly shortened. Therefore, many companies have even relaxed The sanitation control of the intermediate process, the product that the bacteria and virus have exceeded the standard, will be irradiated to irradiate the 'standard', and the irradiation dose will far exceed the international standard. How can this guarantee the safety of food and medicine?"
In this forum, the reporter also heard some manufacturers and researchers talked about the discoloration of product packaging after irradiation. "Is this bottle all discolored and can I still eat inside?" Someone questioned.
The explanation given by Wang Changbao is that the discoloration of glass bottles is due to the fact that the contained silicon element is easily discolored after being irradiated. If the plastic package contains chlorine, it may also be discolored by radiation. But as long as the dose is right, discoloration will fade over time. He personally thinks that "these changed substances will not escape from the packaging into the food."
However, Wang Chuanxi pointed out that high-dose irradiation of foods with high water content has a dangerous tendency to produce free radicals.
Enter the standard, legal vacuum?
“Right now irradiated foods are basically like taking photos,†said many experts.
During the two years from 2004 to 2006, China’s exported foods have been notified by the EU 10 times that there are illegal irradiation problems. This is due to the EU's very strict approval procedures for food irradiation devices. There are 10 irradiators in five countries outside the EU that have been approved by the European Union. However, China, a major food-producing country, is not approved. Therefore, China's food exports to the EU must not be irradiated.
Hu Jinhui has been engaged in research on the laws and regulations and quality system of food and medical products irradiation for many years. She believes that this is related to the lack of standards for food irradiation industry in China and the lack of strict supervision and regulations. “We cannot yet meet the requirements of the European Union.â€
As with other food safety issues, the supervision of irradiated foods still adopts segmented management with Chinese characteristics: the Ministry of Health is responsible for the safety assessment of irradiated foods, and formulates relevant standards, catalogues, and inspection methods. The Ministry of Environmental Protection is responsible for radiation safety licenses and supervision and management of irradiation units, qualifications for irradiating personnel, and training management. The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) is responsible for standardizing the management of irradiated food labels and supervising and managing irradiated food and raw materials.
In 1986, the Ministry of Health issued the Provisional Regulations on the Hygienic Management of Irradiated Foods, and this provision was subsequently replaced by the 47th “Regulation on the Management of Irradiated Food Hygiene†promulgated by the Ministry of Health in 1996. However, at the regulatory level, the “Administrative Measures†does not impose penalties but stipulates that penalties shall be imposed in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Food Sanitation Law. On June 1st, 2009, the "Food Hygiene Law" was abolished and the "Administrative Measures" penalties were also lost. The relevant authorities could not punish companies that did not identify irradiated foods.
"Now, the Ministry of Health's official website shows that the "irradiation food hygiene management approach" has also been repealed," said Hu Jinhui. This reporter learned that this is the Ministry of Health announced on January 10 this year.
In 2001, the General Administration of Quality and Technical Supervision issued the "General Technical Requirements for Food Irradiation" and made many regulations. "But this standard is only a recommended standard, and it has not been widely used in food irradiation in China, and it has not received enough attention," said Hu Jinhui.
Then, is food irradiation in our country now entering a standard and legal vacuum?
Ha Yiming, executive deputy director of the Radiation Products Quality Inspection Center of the Ministry of Agriculture, said that the corresponding standards and regulations are already in development.
Ha Yiming has reservations about some media reports of abuse of radiation by the food industry. He told the "Science Times" that in fact the irradiation plant's production and construction investment is not small, and the irradiation cost is not low. "I estimate that at least a thousand yuan per ton. For a food company, it is generally not possible to irradiate without radiation."
Hu Jinhui pointed out that at present, there is still a lack of quantitative analysis and detection methods for the post-detection of radiation doses. Ha Yiming said: "The method is there, but it is rather complicated."
Irradiation food identification is the trend of the general public in the perception of irradiated food, whether the identification of irradiated food is a topic that can not be opened up.
At home and abroad, the debate on this issue has not subsided. The supporters believe that consumers have the right to know and that irradiated foods must be marked; opponents believe that since they have been studied for many years, they have been recognized as a safe and physical food processing technology. As with thermal processing, there is no need for identification. The identification is not conducive to the development of irradiated foods.
"In the end, food manufacturers and manufacturers are worried that consumers will misunderstand the identity of irradiated foods, and they are reluctant to identify them," said one expert.
Irradiated food is not marked, is it illegal?
Ha Yiming told the "Scientific Times" that there are mandatory requirements for the radiation labeling of prepackaged foods. "But there is no corresponding implementation rule."
Different from what he said, Hu Jinhui said that whether or not irradiated foods are currently labeled has no regulations. Zhu Jun also talked about the label "is not an industry mandatory requirement."
However, most experts interviewed by the "Scientific Times" have said that the identification of irradiated food is a general trend.
Zhu Jun is very confident that the public will gradually accept irradiated food.
“The 2009 Irradiation Door incident has hit our industry at the very beginning. Within a week, all things in the warehouse have been pulled out. Customers are afraid.†Zhu Jun said.
“Fortunately, the Food Industry Association issued a joint paper. After viewing the customer, the customer returned again in a week.â€
Zhu Jun believes that the "irradiation door" incident is not a bad thing. "Let everyone dare to say. In the past, companies were afraid to say that their products were irradiated. Now we in Henan, many companies have taken the initiative to sign radiation."
Like Wen Zhaoyan, Zhao Wenyan believes that the unprecedented nuclear concern caused by the Japanese nuclear accident is “not a bad thing.†He told the Scientific Times: “There is a bad influence in the short term, but it seems to be a good thing in the long term. To promote understanding of the concept of radiation. Everyone will slowly accept it, just as the Henan people have gradually accepted the 'laser garlic'."
Irradiated food, a topic that once had no secrets, has once again triggered public attention as Japan’s nuclear crisis.
While everyone has not yet understood enough about it, the growth of irradiated food in China is already very fast. As of 2010, the total amount of irradiated food in China has reached more than 200,000 tons, accounting for about half of the world's irradiated food.
I do not know "radiation" in "radiation". This is the current situation of most of us. Concomitantly, it is the lack of standard and supervision of irradiated food in China in the case of doubt about the safety of high-dose irradiated food.
â–¡ The reporter Xiao Jie “In Zhengzhou, if you ask where the isotope research institute is located, few people know that you can just mention 'laser garlic'. Everyone knows.â€
"Laser garlic" is the common name that farmers use to irradiate garlic. "When the most prosperous, starting from the door of our unit, trucks loaded with garlic were parked on the side of the road, one by one, and they were able to queue up two or three kilometers. The traffic police had to come to maintain order."
At the end of April, Zhu Jun, deputy general manager of the Institute of Isotope Research, Henan Academy of Sciences, described the “festival†of the garlic team at a food technology forum in Beijing.
I do not know "radiation" in "radiation"
"We took a lot, but we don't know."
In this forum, this sentence was repeatedly mentioned by a number of irradiated food experts including Zhu Jun.
Irradiated food was once a secret topic.
In the summer of 2009, from the “Radiation Door†incident of instant noodles of several well-known brands to the Cobalt-60 incident in Song County, Henan, irradiation of this technology, which has been used for many years in the food industry, surfaced and caused heated debates.
But before long, the topic of irradiated food gradually faded in the media.
The nuclear crisis in Japan has caused the public to be highly sensitive to "radiation," and has also paid attention to irradiated foods.
On a large domestic mother and baby website, a mother mentioned the topic of irradiated food. She felt that after the nuclear crisis in Japan, she wanted to know more urgently - "Is this radiation the same as that radiation?"
Of the 20 people who followed, there was no lack of knowledge of irradiated food, but more people were surprised - "Halo, only heard of preservatives, did not expect to have rays!"
Nearly two years after the "Radiation Door" incident occurred, many people did not know what the irradiated food was. Reporters rummaged at supermarket food counters. In addition to instant noodles, it was difficult to see other signs of irradiated food.
Although the public is still ignorant, the scale of irradiated foods in China is growing rapidly.
"China is absolutely the world's largest country in irradiated food," said Zhao Yongfu, a researcher at the Institute of Atomic Energy, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences. According to statistics, as of 2010, the total amount of irradiated food in China has reached more than 200,000 tons, accounting for about half of the world's irradiated food.
Zhao Yongfu also disclosed that relevant departments and agencies in China are working hard to promote the development of the food irradiation processing industry in China. It is planned to increase irradiated foods by 3 to 4 times during the “12th Five-Year Plan†period.
Food irradiation technology is a technology that uses gamma rays generated from radioactive sources such as cobalt-60 and neodymium-137, or high-energy electron beams below 10 MeV produced by accelerators to process food and agricultural and sideline products. Among them, the Cobalt-60 irradiator is still the main equipment. Currently, there are more than 250 large-scale devices in operation around the world, and the total installed capacity is about 300 million curies.
China has a large proportion of them.
Prior to this, China had approved six types of irradiated food hygiene standards and 17 items of irradiated food processing standards. “The output value of food involved each year should exceed 30 billion yuan.†Zhao Wenyan, director of the radiation processing professional committee of China Isotope and Radiation Industry Association, told the Scientific Times.
It is understood that over 60 countries in the world have approved the application of food irradiation technology. The main role of food irradiation technology is to suppress germination, insecticide sterilization, improve quality, and keep fresh and storage.
Due to the strong penetrating power of radiation, one of the benefits of irradiation technology is that it is not necessary to open the package, which is convenient and quick and avoids secondary pollution.
Many people believe that this kind of indiscriminate bactericidal and insecticidal method will be in doubt.
Wang Changbao, business manager of Jiangsu Reddy Technologies, spoke about this:
A customer who cooperated for the first time had an eye for delivery and made a mark on the package. As a result, when he received the goods, he found that the mark had not been completely passive. He immediately questioned: "Do you not sterilize our products at all?"
Wang Changbao explained to him. However, this customer still did not trust, took a part back to do storage experiments and found that there are indeed results, then I believe Wang Changbao's words.
As many experts at the conference said, we actually do not know the "radiation" in "radiation."
In addition to the garlic mentioned at the beginning of the article, a considerable portion of the spice and dehydrated vegetable condiment we use daily is irradiated. These foods are easy to carry with microorganisms and pests, the traditional heat sterilization process will volatilize the aroma, and the irradiation technology with the cold treatment characteristics therefore shows its advantages.
According to Zhao Yongfu, China’s exposure to spices and dehydrated vegetables is currently around 100,000 tons, which accounts for about one-third of the world’s radiation, and accounts for about half of China’s irradiated food production.
In recent years, small foods have sprung up in the irradiated food industry, almost on an equal footing with spices. Pickle chicken feet is a typical example. Zhao Yongfu said that if no preservatives are added, the chicken legs can only be stored for 2 to 3 days, while the use of irradiation technology can extend the shelf life to 1 to 6 months. In Sichuan Province alone, the radiation treatment of pickled chicken legs has reached more than 10,000 tons per year.
In addition, frozen foods, white wine, etc. are all areas where the irradiation technology covers a lot.
Irradiated food is like baked sweet potato?
"Everybody associates food irradiation with the atomic bomb. In fact, the two are completely different things," Zhu Jun said.
Experts such as Yan Jianmin and Gao Meishou wrote an article, stating that when the food is irradiated, radiation passes through the stainless steel tube wall to illuminate the food. The energy received by the food is radiation energy, not radioactive material, and the irradiated food is tightly packaged. Therefore, foods cannot be directly contaminated with radioactive substances.
In addition, theoretically speaking, it is necessary to make energy of more than 10 MeV for the component elements in food to induce radiation after irradiation. Within this energy range, even with high irradiation doses, the life span of the isotopes produced by them is very short, and the radioactivity is only 150,000 to 200,000 times of the natural radioactivity of foods. The average gamma ray energy of cobalt-60 is 1.25 MeV, and the gamma ray energy of cerium-137 is only 0.66 MeV, which is much lower than the energy threshold for generating induced ray. Therefore, irradiated food itself does not produce induced radioactivity. The energy of food irradiation sources above 10 MeV is prohibited, which fundamentally eliminates the problem of induced radioactivity.
“Actually, the research on the safety of irradiated food is one of the longest and most successful projects in the world. It used to last for decades, and 30 countries have division of labor to do experiments.†General Manager of Beijing Sanqiang Nuclear Radiation Corporation Wang Chuanxi stressed.
Chinese scholars have also made significant contributions to the world food irradiation community. From 1982 to 1985, on the basis of a large number of animal experiments, China organized a total of 382 irradiated human food trials. The results showed that irradiated foods with an absorbed dose below 10 kGy had no abnormal effects on the human body, thus ending the 10-year-long dispute of lymphoploid irradiation caused by Indian scholars.
As early as 1980, the FAO (FAO)/IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency)/WHO (United Nations WHO) Joint Expert Committee concluded that the average absorbed dose of any food is as high as 10 kGy without toxicological hazards. Requiring toxicological tests, it is also safe in terms of nutrition and microbiology.
Almost every expert will refer to this conclusion when talking about the safety of irradiated food.
Zhu Jun believes that the 1980 conclusion does not need to be mentioned at all. “Because the above-mentioned committee in 1997 proposed that there is no need to set an upper limit for the irradiation dose of food. In 1999, the committee concluded that irradiated foods in doses exceeding 10 kGy are also hygienic and safe.â€
Hu Jinhui, director of the analysis and testing center of the Beijing Municipal Center for Radiation Applied Research, introduced the recommendations of the European Food Safety Agency on irradiated food that she had just received a few days ago. The two subgroups under the agency conducted a survey of the safety of irradiated food last year. One group is responsible for investigating the microbiological safety and bactericidal efficiency of irradiated foods, and the other group is responsible for investigating the chemical safety of irradiated foods.
Finally, the former draws the following conclusion: In irradiated foods, irradiated microbes do not pose new risks to consumers. The latter point of view is that foods that are irradiated produce new chemicals, but these chemicals are mainly hydrocarbons, 2-alkylcyclobutanone, acetaldehyde, etc. These substances are also produced in other food processing. Not unique to irradiation treatment. Moreover, these substances generate less amounts during the irradiation than those produced during the heat treatment.
Dr. Food Engineering, a well-known popular science author, cloudlessly used this analogy: eating radiation-contaminated food is like eating fired food in the mouth, and it is still burning in the stomach; while irradiating foods is like grilling well. Sweet potatoes can be enjoyed at ease.
“People in our industry have to face the public calmly, and there is nothing to be afraid of,†Wang Chuanxi said in a loud voice.
High-dose radiation remains risky However, unlike Wang Chuanxi’s righteousness, some of his peers feel that the topic is “sensitive†and are very cautious in interviewing the Scientific Times reporter.
There are reports that irradiated foods are not so "beautiful."
Hu Jinhui's analysis of the above-mentioned criteria and the findings of the European survey pointed out that apart from affirming the safety of irradiated food, the agency actually expressed the opinion that even if some foods are approved for irradiation, they do not necessarily need to be photographed. "To fully inspect the quantity and status of microorganisms in foods, doses and varieties should not be set in advance."
She bluntly said that some experts said in general that "irradiation will not change the food traits" is wrong. “Irradiation will certainly have an impact on food. I used to irradiate milk and soon solidified. So whether a certain food can be irradiated or not, how much dose needs to be studied.â€
Zhu Jun said that the maximum tolerated doses for food, wheat and flour, rice, and grains are different. Above 1 kGy of irradiated wheat and flour, the viscosity value decreased significantly. After the irradiation of rice over 0.5 kGy, the taste changed significantly. The 0.8 kGy irradiation had a significant effect on the viscosity of corn residue, glutinous rice, and oatmeal.
According to Zhu Jun, at present, the foods that are sent to their units are generally determined according to national standards, combined with the bacteria content, production process, and species characteristics of the products. They also did a lot of research in this area. At the same time, he also expressed a bit of helplessness: "Foreign food manufacturers are generally provided to provide dose data, and all domestic radiation plants provide dose."
"In fact, as an irradiation plant, I am concerned about the radiation process itself. As for the quality of the irradiated product, whether the composition changes, this matter should be taken care of by the food factory." Zhu Jun said.
For example, he said, because the original only the traditional disinfection methods, production is limited, Henan soybean protein production once ranked third in the country. After using irradiation technology, soybean protein production in Henan now ranks second in the country. However, food manufacturers do not have a basic understanding of the dose and do not want to understand it.
"I joked with the people of the food manufacturers that after you finished this soy protein, it wasn't soy protein. He said, 'I don't care, I just don't have any bacteria,'" Zhu Jun said. "There are other food manufacturers who don't justify their use. They don't use such a large dose, but he told you, 'I just want to be sterile'. We have no way."
Zhu Jun’s remarks confirmed the views of some experts: “Because irradiation has a very good sterilization effect, if the dose is increased, the microbial content can even be reduced to zero, and the sterilization time can be greatly shortened. Therefore, many companies have even relaxed The sanitation control of the intermediate process, the product that the bacteria and virus have exceeded the standard, will be irradiated to irradiate the 'standard', and the irradiation dose will far exceed the international standard. How can this guarantee the safety of food and medicine?"
In this forum, the reporter also heard some manufacturers and researchers talked about the discoloration of product packaging after irradiation. "Is this bottle all discolored and can I still eat inside?" Someone questioned.
The explanation given by Wang Changbao is that the discoloration of glass bottles is due to the fact that the contained silicon element is easily discolored after being irradiated. If the plastic package contains chlorine, it may also be discolored by radiation. But as long as the dose is right, discoloration will fade over time. He personally thinks that "these changed substances will not escape from the packaging into the food."
However, Wang Chuanxi pointed out that high-dose irradiation of foods with high water content has a dangerous tendency to produce free radicals.
Enter the standard, legal vacuum?
“Right now irradiated foods are basically like taking photos,†said many experts.
During the two years from 2004 to 2006, China’s exported foods have been notified by the EU 10 times that there are illegal irradiation problems. This is due to the EU's very strict approval procedures for food irradiation devices. There are 10 irradiators in five countries outside the EU that have been approved by the European Union. However, China, a major food-producing country, is not approved. Therefore, China's food exports to the EU must not be irradiated.
Hu Jinhui has been engaged in research on the laws and regulations and quality system of food and medical products irradiation for many years. She believes that this is related to the lack of standards for food irradiation industry in China and the lack of strict supervision and regulations. “We cannot yet meet the requirements of the European Union.â€
As with other food safety issues, the supervision of irradiated foods still adopts segmented management with Chinese characteristics: the Ministry of Health is responsible for the safety assessment of irradiated foods, and formulates relevant standards, catalogues, and inspection methods. The Ministry of Environmental Protection is responsible for radiation safety licenses and supervision and management of irradiation units, qualifications for irradiating personnel, and training management. The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) is responsible for standardizing the management of irradiated food labels and supervising and managing irradiated food and raw materials.
In 1986, the Ministry of Health issued the Provisional Regulations on the Hygienic Management of Irradiated Foods, and this provision was subsequently replaced by the 47th “Regulation on the Management of Irradiated Food Hygiene†promulgated by the Ministry of Health in 1996. However, at the regulatory level, the “Administrative Measures†does not impose penalties but stipulates that penalties shall be imposed in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Food Sanitation Law. On June 1st, 2009, the "Food Hygiene Law" was abolished and the "Administrative Measures" penalties were also lost. The relevant authorities could not punish companies that did not identify irradiated foods.
"Now, the Ministry of Health's official website shows that the "irradiation food hygiene management approach" has also been repealed," said Hu Jinhui. This reporter learned that this is the Ministry of Health announced on January 10 this year.
In 2001, the General Administration of Quality and Technical Supervision issued the "General Technical Requirements for Food Irradiation" and made many regulations. "But this standard is only a recommended standard, and it has not been widely used in food irradiation in China, and it has not received enough attention," said Hu Jinhui.
Then, is food irradiation in our country now entering a standard and legal vacuum?
Ha Yiming, executive deputy director of the Radiation Products Quality Inspection Center of the Ministry of Agriculture, said that the corresponding standards and regulations are already in development.
Ha Yiming has reservations about some media reports of abuse of radiation by the food industry. He told the "Science Times" that in fact the irradiation plant's production and construction investment is not small, and the irradiation cost is not low. "I estimate that at least a thousand yuan per ton. For a food company, it is generally not possible to irradiate without radiation."
Hu Jinhui pointed out that at present, there is still a lack of quantitative analysis and detection methods for the post-detection of radiation doses. Ha Yiming said: "The method is there, but it is rather complicated."
Irradiation food identification is the trend of the general public in the perception of irradiated food, whether the identification of irradiated food is a topic that can not be opened up.
At home and abroad, the debate on this issue has not subsided. The supporters believe that consumers have the right to know and that irradiated foods must be marked; opponents believe that since they have been studied for many years, they have been recognized as a safe and physical food processing technology. As with thermal processing, there is no need for identification. The identification is not conducive to the development of irradiated foods.
"In the end, food manufacturers and manufacturers are worried that consumers will misunderstand the identity of irradiated foods, and they are reluctant to identify them," said one expert.
Irradiated food is not marked, is it illegal?
Ha Yiming told the "Scientific Times" that there are mandatory requirements for the radiation labeling of prepackaged foods. "But there is no corresponding implementation rule."
Different from what he said, Hu Jinhui said that whether or not irradiated foods are currently labeled has no regulations. Zhu Jun also talked about the label "is not an industry mandatory requirement."
However, most experts interviewed by the "Scientific Times" have said that the identification of irradiated food is a general trend.
Zhu Jun is very confident that the public will gradually accept irradiated food.
“The 2009 Irradiation Door incident has hit our industry at the very beginning. Within a week, all things in the warehouse have been pulled out. Customers are afraid.†Zhu Jun said.
“Fortunately, the Food Industry Association issued a joint paper. After viewing the customer, the customer returned again in a week.â€
Zhu Jun believes that the "irradiation door" incident is not a bad thing. "Let everyone dare to say. In the past, companies were afraid to say that their products were irradiated. Now we in Henan, many companies have taken the initiative to sign radiation."
Like Wen Zhaoyan, Zhao Wenyan believes that the unprecedented nuclear concern caused by the Japanese nuclear accident is “not a bad thing.†He told the Scientific Times: “There is a bad influence in the short term, but it seems to be a good thing in the long term. To promote understanding of the concept of radiation. Everyone will slowly accept it, just as the Henan people have gradually accepted the 'laser garlic'."
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