A WA parliamentary question probes the State Government's stance on irradiated food, potential health risks, and discussions regarding its sale and the use of Cobalt 60 for irradiation purposes. The government indicates no current plans to allow irradiated food sales.

AnsweredQoN 442Legislative Assembly
Asked
26 June 2001
Portfolio
Health

QuestionView source ↗

(1) What is the State Government policy on the importation and consumption of irradiated foods?
(2) Is the Minister aware of any risks to humans in the consumption of irradiated food?
(3) Is the State Government considering allowing irradiated foods to be sold in WA for human consumption?
(4) Has the Minister been involved in discussions with the Commonwealth Minister for Health and other State Health Ministers regarding the granting of a license to a company to transport, use and store radioactive Cobalt 60 for the purposes of irradiating food stuffs?
(5) If yes to (3), what has been the outcome of those discussions?

AnswerView source ↗

Answered
31 July 2001
Responded by
Minister for Health
Response time
35 days
(2) No. (3) Not at this stage. For a food to be approved for irradiation in Australia, an application would need to be submitted to the Australia New Zealand Food Authority (ANZFA), and ANZFA would be required to follow due statutory processes. In the event that ANZFA supported the proposal, a recommendation would be made to the Council of Ministers, Australia New Zealand Food Standards Council and if approved, an amendment would be made to the Australian Food Standards Code as under existing Western Australian regulations amendment to the Food Standards Code are adopted by reference in Western Australia. (4) No. (5) Not applicable
(3) Not at this stage. For a food to be approved for irradiation in Australia, an application would need to be submitted to the Australia New Zealand Food Authority (ANZFA), and ANZFA would be required to follow due statutory processes. In the event that ANZFA supported the proposal, a recommendation would be made to the Council of Ministers, Australia New Zealand Food Standards Council and if approved, an amendment would be made to the Australian Food Standards Code as under existing Western Australian regulations amendment to the Food Standards Code are adopted by reference in Western Australia. (4) No. (5) Not applicable
(4) No. (5) Not applicable
(5) Not applicable

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