Alarm at plans to zap fruit imports

By JAMES GARDINER

A new move to import irradiated food has consumer and environmental groups worried.

An Australian firm dealing in tropical fruits wants to use electron beams and x-rays, instead of chemical fumigants, to get rid of pests.

A ban on the controversial treatment was lifted two years ago, but this is the first time someone has tried to import produce exposed to a radiation dose.

With some consumers already anxious about genetic modification, the application could tap into public unease about food.

The intergovernmental authority considering the proposal is the same one that last month delayed by a year the introduction of mandatory labelling on GM food sold in Australia and New Zealand.

The Canberra-based Australia New Zealand Food Authority (Anzfa) is dominated by Australian politicians. New Zealand has one vote in 10 and was outvoted on labelling.

Most New Zealanders seem to have been unaware of the application from Surebeam Australia, which is American-owned.

When submissions closed on October 31, the authority had received 60, including just three from New Zealand. Two were from Friends of the Earth (NZ) and Wellington-based Action for Environment.

Action for Environment submitted that irradiation would affect the fruit's appearance and deplete its vitamin content.

Bob Tait, a Friends of the Earth researcher, said there were microbiological and toxicity concerns. There had been no long-term trials on the effects of a diet of irradiated produce.

He also cited a study that found one breed of fruitfly larvae could remain fertile after being irradiated.

But there was no way of checking through a quarantine inspection whether live larvae were sterile, he said.

If a fully grown fruitfly - fertile or not - was found in central Auckland, an 80km radius would have to be sealed off, which would include the ports and international airport.

Ken Robertson, an executive officer with the Vegetable Growers Federation, said he had made a submission on behalf of VegFed and the Fruitgrowers Federation.

"We would certainly have a concern if there was a treatment that allowed live fruitfly larvae into the country, whether they were sterile or not, because other countries then may impose conditions on us for our exports," he said.

"It's on the top of our critical quarantine pest list ... We call it the foot and mouth of horticulture."

An outbreak of Mediterranean fruitfly in Mt Roskill in 1996 led to restriction zones that blocked easy access to Auckland Airport. Several countries restricted New Zealand exports for several years, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry still maintains and monitors traps in parts of Auckland.

Surebeam said irradiation was a safe alternative to chemicals. Other non-chemical treatments were ineffective, uneconomic or not accepted by regulators.

Queensland fruit and vegetable growers and organisations such as the Cairns City Council and port authority have backed the application, which would also clear the way for imports of irradiated tropical fruits into Australia.

MAF moved yesterday to ease concerns, saying that even if Anzfa gave approval there would be no automatic access to New Zealand for imports of the fruits listed in the application - breadfruit, carambola, custard apple, lychee, longan, mango, mangosteen, papaya and rambutan.

"We have advised Anzfa to make that clear," said MAF spokeswoman Carol Inkster.

"Access won't be possible until import health standards have been documented and issued in accordance with the Biosecurity Act."

The merits and risks of irradiation have been debated for more than a decade. Steritech of Melbourne tried unsuccessfully to set up a plant in Auckland in 1987.

After a Ministry for the Environment working party recommended prohibition of the treatment in 1988, the issue quietened down until January 1999, when Anzfa decided to consider applications.

Two months ago, the authority approved an application from Steritech to irradiate herbs, spices and herbal infusions.

However, Dr Glenn Stanley, an Anzfa toxicologist, said no food and spice manufacturers were yet using irradiation in either country because of consumer resistance.

* james_gardiner@nzherald.co.nz