(From the American Dietetic Association Position: Food irradiation, and the Utah State University Extension Fact Sheet)

All irradiated foods in the United States must be labeled with a radura, the international symbol for irradiation (Figure 4) and the words "treated by irradiation" or "treated with radiation." Products that contain irradiated ingredients, such as spices, are not required to be labeled. A continuing area of research is identifying scientific detection methods to verify that unlabeled foods have not been irradiated and that labeled foods have received the intended dose (23). An international general standard for irradiated foods and facilities was adopted by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, a joint body of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. The standards are based on the findings of the Joint Expert Committee on Food Irradiation convened by the FAO, WHO, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (10).

Prepared Summer 1997 by Bernadene Magnuson, Ph.D.
University of Idaho, Dept. of Food Science and Toxicology - EXTOXNET FAQ Team.