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Microbiological specifications and testing methods for irradiated food. Report of a panel of experts; Specifications et methodes d'analyse microbiologiques des aliments irradies. Rapport d'un groupe d'etude

Abstract

In recent years there has been increased interest in the development of food items processed by means of ionizing radiation, wherever that form of preservation might show advantage over other methods. If this method becomes successful, the various items will be commercially exploited; it would then be convenient to have similar legislation in many countries of the world to control this type of processing and to facilitate international trade. To gather information and suggestions in order to devise legislation on irradiated food, a Joint FAO/IAEA/ WHO Expert Committee on the Technical Basis for Legislation on Irradiated Food was held in Rome on 21-28 April 1964. The Committee's report, 'The technical basis for legislation on irradiated food', was published as FAO Atomic Energy Series No.6 and WHO Technical Series No. 316. The Committee's terms of reference were to consider the available evidence on the effect on food of treatment with ionizing radiation in the context of wholesomeness and safety for consumption. Nutritional aspects were taken into account, but microbiological safety and microbiological methods for irradiated food were excluded since these subjects were believed to be too broad for adequate coverage in the working time available at the meeting. However, realizing the  More>>
Publication Date:
Sep 01, 1971
Product Type:
Book
Report Number:
STI/DOC-10/104/F
Resource Relation:
Other Information: 70 refs, tabs; PBD: Sep 1971; Related Information: Technical reports seriesno. 104
Subject:
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGANISMS AND BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS; FAO; FOOD PROCESSING; IAEA; IRRADIATION; LEGAL ASPECTS; MICROORGANISMS; RADURIZATION; RECOMMENDATIONS; SAFETY STANDARDS; WHO
OSTI ID:
20385666
Research Organizations:
Agence Internationale de l'Energie Atomique, Vienne (Austria); Organisation des Nations Unies pour l'Alimentation et l'Agriculture, Rome (Italy); Association Internationale des Societes de Microbiologie, Washington, DC (United States)
Country of Origin:
IAEA
Language:
French
Other Identifying Numbers:
TRN: XA0301959065179
Submitting Site:
INIS
Size:
138 pages
Announcement Date:
Oct 13, 2003

Citation Formats

None. Microbiological specifications and testing methods for irradiated food. Report of a panel of experts; Specifications et methodes d'analyse microbiologiques des aliments irradies. Rapport d'un groupe d'etude. IAEA: N. p., 1971. Web.
None. Microbiological specifications and testing methods for irradiated food. Report of a panel of experts; Specifications et methodes d'analyse microbiologiques des aliments irradies. Rapport d'un groupe d'etude. IAEA.
None. 1971. "Microbiological specifications and testing methods for irradiated food. Report of a panel of experts; Specifications et methodes d'analyse microbiologiques des aliments irradies. Rapport d'un groupe d'etude." IAEA.
@misc{etde_20385666,
title = {Microbiological specifications and testing methods for irradiated food. Report of a panel of experts; Specifications et methodes d'analyse microbiologiques des aliments irradies. Rapport d'un groupe d'etude}
author = {None}
abstractNote = {In recent years there has been increased interest in the development of food items processed by means of ionizing radiation, wherever that form of preservation might show advantage over other methods. If this method becomes successful, the various items will be commercially exploited; it would then be convenient to have similar legislation in many countries of the world to control this type of processing and to facilitate international trade. To gather information and suggestions in order to devise legislation on irradiated food, a Joint FAO/IAEA/ WHO Expert Committee on the Technical Basis for Legislation on Irradiated Food was held in Rome on 21-28 April 1964. The Committee's report, 'The technical basis for legislation on irradiated food', was published as FAO Atomic Energy Series No.6 and WHO Technical Series No. 316. The Committee's terms of reference were to consider the available evidence on the effect on food of treatment with ionizing radiation in the context of wholesomeness and safety for consumption. Nutritional aspects were taken into account, but microbiological safety and microbiological methods for irradiated food were excluded since these subjects were believed to be too broad for adequate coverage in the working time available at the meeting. However, realizing the importance of radiation microbiology and the need for guidance in formulating regulations in this field, the committee drafted the following recommendation: 'The methods and standards used to ensure the microbiological safety of the irradiated product should, as a matter of urgency, be subject to review by competent international bodies in order that internationally acceptable methods and standards may be agreed upon'. In response to this recommendation an FAO/IAEA Panel on Microbiological Standards and Testing Methods for Irradiated Food was held in Vienna on 22-26 June 1965, in collaboration with the International Association of Microbiological Societies (IAMS). This was a working panel in that there were no prepared papers. Discussions took place on the value of various methods, and information on such matters as formulations, ingredients and techniques was assembled. The resulting draft report was thorough and reflected the great amount of work that had gone into its preparation. But the feeling of the senior members of the panel was that there was room for further refinement and improvement. This feeling was strengthened by the realization that significant work on microbiological methods, which had not been completed at the time of the panel meeting, was now available from the International Committee on Microbiological Specifications for Food of IAMS. Thus the panel was brought together again on 6-10 November 1967 in Vienna for the purpose of reviewing the draft report, reducing the number of methods proposed for the evaluation of food for specific micro-organisms, and drawing more fully upon the experience of the International Committee on Microbiological Specifications for food. in addition to the draft report, the unpublished reports of the meetings of the International Committee held in Cambridge (UK). 1965, Moscow, 1966, and London, 1967, were used as working papers. The composition of the second panel varied only slightly from that of the first. This report, then, supplements 'The technical basis for legislation on irradiated food', mentioned above. In formulating legislation or regulations clarity is essential; this is particularly so in microbiology where the values obtained for the microbial content of a food are likely to differ widely. If a regulation specifies that certain micro-organisms must be absent from a food, or that they are permitted only in certain quantities, the methods and techniques to be used in order to comply with the regulation should also be specified. The present report aims to provide the link between the regulatory microbiological requirements and the methods that should be used. The panel experts compared the microbiological methods being used in most of the countries of the world, reviewed the scientific literature and pooled their individual experiences and knowledge of unpublished research data in an effort to consolidate world-wide microbiological information into a limited number of acceptable, reproducible methods that could form the basis for evaluating (a) the effectiveness of the different levels of radiation processing on food and feeds; (b) the microbiological quality of the resulting products; (c) the microbiological safety for food and feed use; and (d) the closeness with which regulations should comply with microbiological requirements. This information is presented for voluntary use in evaluating radiation treated foods or for use in promulgating legislation on irradiated food or feeds. It is hoped that the book will help to promote close conformity between national regulations throughout the world.}
place = {IAEA}
year = {1971}
month = {Sep}
}