Editorial: Zapped fruit now standard but consumers need to know
5:00 AM Monday Oct 27, 2014
Irradiated fruit and vegetables for sale. Photo / NZME.
Twenty years ago, the prospect of irradiated fruit and vegetables from Australia going on sale here would have attracted strong opposition.
At that time, opponents contended that irradiation would affect the appearance of food and deplete its vitamin content. So deep-seated was the concern that a public outcry stopped plans to build irradiation plants at Tokoroa and Mangakino.
Now, things are very different. Any qualms about the looming import of 11 types of fruit and vegetables from Queensland must focus on consumers being made fully aware that they have been bombarded with gamma rays.
The process was, in fact, declared safe by our regulator of food standards, a joint authority for New Zealand and Australia, more than a decade ago.
That decision paid heed to increasing scientific evidence, as well as the desirability of replacing the chemical …
5:00 AM Monday Oct 27, 2014
Irradiated fruit and vegetables for sale. Photo / NZME.
Twenty years ago, the prospect of irradiated fruit and vegetables from Australia going on sale here would have attracted strong opposition.
At that time, opponents contended that irradiation would affect the appearance of food and deplete its vitamin content. So deep-seated was the concern that a public outcry stopped plans to build irradiation plants at Tokoroa and Mangakino.
Now, things are very different. Any qualms about the looming import of 11 types of fruit and vegetables from Queensland must focus on consumers being made fully aware that they have been bombarded with gamma rays.
The process was, in fact, declared safe by our regulator of food standards, a joint authority for New Zealand and Australia, more than a decade ago.
That decision paid heed to increasing scientific evidence, as well as the desirability of replacing the chemical …