FDA Rejects Objections and Request for Hearing on Food Irradiation Rule

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has determined that it will neither conduct a hearing nor make any changes to its final rule on the use of irradiation in processing and handling food. According to the agency, “the objections do not justify a hearing or otherwise provide a basis for revoking the regulation,” issued in October 2000 in response to a petition filed by Caudill Seed Co. which sought a regulatory amendment allowing “the safe use of ionizing radiation to control microbial pathogens in seeds for sprouting.” So ruling, FDA rejected Public Citizen’s concerns that the agency failed to apply a 100-fold safety factor, the petitioner submitted no conventional animal toxicity studies on sprouts from irradiated seeds, the review memorandum contained unsubstantiated statements, and the nutritional adequacy of irradiated seeds is questionable, among other matters. See Federal Register, May 11, 2012.