In this year's 3 15 party, CCTV focused on MUJI enterprises. It is said that many foods are produced in nuclear radiation areas of Japan. The news really surprised everyone, so what happened specifically? I believe that before this, the word "irradiation" is still somewhat unfamiliar to most consumers. In fact, in China, the food problem has always been the most important concern of people. There are many similarities with the transgene that people paid attention to some time ago. They are all related to the quality and safety of the technology used in food processing. Enterprises are used to hiding, and people's attitude has risen directly from unheard of to "the color changes when they smell it." But in my opinion, the radiation problem is not as terrible as people think, but a technology in food sterilization. If it is supervised by the government and enterprises regulate the dosage, their safety doubts can disappear.

First, let's learn what food irradiation is. Food irradiation, also known as "food irradiation" or "ionizing radiation sterilization", refers to exposing food to ionizing radiation. This process can kill microorganisms, bacteria, viruses or bugs on food. Other applications include inhibiting germination, delaying fruit ripening, promoting fruit juice production and promoting rehydration. This sterilization principle is to use the energy of electromagnetic wave radiation to destroy the DNA structure in organisms, so that microorganisms can no longer reproduce, and plant pathogens can also stop growing and differentiating.

Provisions of international organizations and countries around the world on irradiation technology;

According to FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), WHO (World Health Organization) and other international organizations, the safety of this technology was studied, and the upper limit of radiation absorption of food used in this technology was set to less than 10kGy in 1980. However, in 1997, with the continuous development of science and technology, three international organizations, FAO, IAEA and WHO, proposed to modify the upper limit of less than 10kGy, and suggested to cancel the upper limit of 10kGy. Because for food safety testing, food irradiated by radiation has not been proved to be toxic, carcinogenic, toxic and nutritional destructive. So in this sense, it can be concluded that the products of radioactive disinfection and sterilization are harmless to human body, because the radiation standard using this technology is far less than the standard stipulated by international organizations.

At present, more than 60 kinds of products in more than 50 countries around the world are produced by radiation disinfection and sterilization. After 2005, the amount of food produced by this method reached 405,000 tons. China and the United States account for about two thirds of the world's output. In Japan, due to paying more attention to the safe production of food, radioactive sterilization is only allowed to prevent potato germination, and radioactive sterilization cannot be used in other fields. Nevertheless, the potato processed by this disinfection and sterilization method was 0.8 1 10,000 tons in 2005 and 0.62 million tons in 2006, showing a downward trend year by year. This shows that the standards in the field of food production in Japan are strict.

So does irradiation have an effect on food?

The detection of nutritional components of irradiated food shows that the irradiation treatment with a specified dose will not lead to obvious loss of nutritional quality of food, while protein, sugar and fat in food will remain relatively stable, while essential amino acids, fatty acids, minerals and trace elements will not lose too much. The World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency issued a joint report in the 1980s. Like other food processing technologies, irradiation technology is safe, and the damage to food nutrients is not more than that of traditional processing methods. Irradiation technology is a safe and reliable food processing technology, and there is no safety problem in the food irradiated according to the prescribed dose.

Is irradiated food radioactive?

The radiation used to irradiate food is released by radioactive sources, so is the irradiated food radioactive? Consumers don't have to worry about this. First of all, after food is irradiated, it will not directly contact the radioactive source, but only get the energy released by radiation; Secondly, the energy used to irradiate food is relatively low, which is lower than the critical energy required for the excitation of elements in food, so the substances in food will not be excited to induce radioactivity during irradiation. The radioactive food that consumers are worried about is the food contaminated by radioactive particles. For example, the leakage of nuclear power plants causes radioactive particles to adhere to the surface of food, causing radioactive pollution. Such food is called radioactive food. So there is essential difference between irradiated food and radioactive food.

Safety regulations and present situation of irradiated food in China;

According to national regulations, as long as it is irradiated food or food ingredients, it must have irradiation marks or corresponding text marks. Since irradiated food is safe, why does the state stipulate that the packaging of irradiated food should be labeled? On the one hand, it protects consumers' right to know, and consumers have the right to choose whether to buy irradiated food; On the other hand, it is also to prevent food or ingredients from being repeatedly irradiated, because the Measures for the Hygienic Management of Irradiated Food stipulates that most foods are not allowed to be repeatedly irradiated.

For example, the well-known "chicken feet with pickled peppers" is a typical snack. According to insiders, chicken feet can only be preserved for 2-3 days without preservatives, and the shelf life can be extended to 1-6 months if irradiation technology is adopted. At present, the annual irradiation treatment capacity of pickled chicken feet in Sichuan Province alone reaches 1 10,000 tons.

The output of irradiated food is so huge that I tried to visit some big supermarkets and found it difficult to find the word "irradiated food" easily in prepackaged foods. It seems that many domestic enterprises are like this. I consulted an alumnus in the food industry, and he told me that using irradiation technology to sterilize and keep fresh has always been a secret knowledge in the industry.

Some readers may want to ask, why is everyone in China silent about irradiation technology? Or why not mark the word "irradiation" on the outer packaging? In fact, the reason is very simple, and it has a deep relationship with the over-dose processing of processing enterprises.

At present, the main problems existing in irradiated food processing in China are as follows: First, some enterprises blindly pursue sterilization or preservation effect, and arbitrarily increase the irradiation dose, which greatly exceeds the limit standard. Second, after food is irradiated, manufacturers ignore the labeling requirements and do not label according to regulations. Third, export enterprises are not familiar with the food standards, restrictions and requirements of importing countries, and incidents of being returned due to adverse effects caused by irradiation that does not meet the requirements of importing countries occur from time to time. In this regard, China's customs audit is still relatively strict, as long as it does not meet the requirements, it is difficult to enter the mainland market.

According to some experts in the domestic food industry, the current domestic irradiation technology is to take as long as you want. Bai, the host of CCTV, confirmed the opinion of these food experts: "Because irradiation has a good sterilization effect, if the dose is increased, the microbial content can even be reduced to zero, and the sterilization time can be greatly shortened. Therefore, many enterprises have even relaxed the hygiene control of the intermediate process and "irradiated" products with serious bacteria and viruses, and the irradiation dose has far exceeded international standards. " So food safety can't be guaranteed. According to relevant statistics, only in the last two years, China's food exports have been notified by the European Union of the existence of illegal irradiation 10 times.

Safety regulations and present situation of irradiated food in Japan;

At present, Japan's requirements for irradiation technology are the most stringent in the world, because the Japanese are very resistant to radiation irradiation. Because of this, the world-recognized food irradiation technology is difficult to popularize in Japan, and Japan has extremely strict restrictions on food irradiation technology. Lin Che, director of Japan Food Research Institute, told Xinhua that since 1967, Japan has conducted research on the effect, safety and reliability of food irradiation technology for seven kinds of foods, including potatoes, onions, rice and wheat. The conclusion is that irradiation can prolong the storage time of food and maintain the quality of food. Irradiated food is safe.

Che Lin said that in 1972, Japan approved the use of gamma rays to irradiate potatoes to prevent them from sprouting. 1974, the Agricultural Association of Shibo-CHO, Hokkaido officially started to irradiate potatoes, but soon Japan started a movement against food irradiation technology. Due to the constant pressure from opposition groups on the government, Japan has not approved the use of irradiation technology to treat other foods. At present, only Japan's Shibaomachi Agricultural Association is irradiating food, which irradiates about 5,000 tons of potatoes every year, while Japan has about 3 million tons of potatoes listed every year. Compared with the total amount of food, the number of irradiated food in Japan is very small. Because the management of food irradiation technology in Japan is very strict. Japan's Food Hygiene Law stipulates that food irradiation technology is prohibited in principle in Japan except potatoes. When applying for irradiation treatment of a new food, the relevant departments should discuss and evaluate the safety of the food according to law and report to the Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare.

Regardless of nationalism, should we treat food safety objectively? Obviously, in Japan, irradiation of food is basically prohibited. Even if you apply for irradiation treatment of similar new foods, you need relevant departments to discuss and evaluate the safety of such foods according to law and report to the Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare. On the other hand, in our country, we simply set a unified standard. As long as it is the same kind and meets the so-called standards, it can be listed. Everyone is doing it. Without strict audit, bad industries will be silent. Therefore, there are three main problems in China irradiated food processing mentioned by the author just now. The saddest thing is that we didn't do well in this respect ourselves, but now we are attacking Japan's irradiation technology by taking advantage of Japan's nuclear radiation problem, but we don't know that people are much stricter than us in this respect, which makes me feel that as a China person, we are blaming the British for not speaking English well all day. Isn't that a little funny?

Therefore, on the issue of food safety based on people's livelihood, whether subjectively or objectively, another important issue of irradiated food is the right to know, although many experts and insiders believe that irradiated food is safe, which is the same as the mistake made on genetically modified food: ignoring the public's right to know. At present, the domestic market is flooded with a large number of irradiated foods, but it is difficult to see such foods labeled. This not only protects consumers' right to know, but also lays a hidden danger for consumers' safety, and it will also cause unfairness to some legally operated enterprises. If irradiation technology cannot be banned like Japan, it is necessary for consumers to know whether they have been treated by irradiation technology. As consumers, we will instinctively resent this practice of concealing information and depriving people of the right to know, regardless of whether irradiated food is really safe or not.