By Gemma Hornett in Sydney Fresh exotic fruit treated with radiation could soon be on Australian supermarket shelves after the country's health authorities gave the controversial pest treatment the go ahead.

Government food regulator Food Standards Australian New Zealand (FSANZ) recently changed its food code to allow the irradiation of tropical fruits - the first time the process has been used on fresh food in Australia.

Under the changes, irradiation techniques have been approved for mango, papaya, breadfruit, carambola, custard apples, lychee, mangosteen, longan and rambutan.

Previously Australian irradiation policies were similar to those adopted in the UK and Europe – the technique was limited to herbs, spices and herbal teas.

When food undergoes irradiation, a beam of x-rays is scanned across the food to kill bacteria and pests, extending its shelf life.

Tropical fruit treated this way will be labelled with a radiation warning tag under the new Australian directive.

FSANZ claims its scientists are satisfied irradiation will not harm consumers, saying: 'It's not a risk. It's similar to sterilising medical instruments.' But industry sceptics claim the process destroys the nutritional value of food. They also fear a consumer backlash and believe overseas fruit could now flood the market as a result.

Australia's move to relax irradiation laws comes as European health authorities re-examine the use of irradiation with the possibility of more stringent legislation being enforced.

In November last year, MEPs sitting on the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy leant their support to tougher irradiation rules set out in the Breyer Report – a report commissioned for European Parliament.

Recommendations the MEPs backed included better controls of irradiated food, more monitoring of irradiation, and research into the long-term health impacts of eating irradiated foods, particularly their effects on children.

But the Committee took no steps to finalise the list of foods authorised for radiation treatment which currently varies from country to country but includes herbs, spices and vegetable seasonings and in some states even fresh and dried fruits and vegetables.

Under EU law, irradiated foods must be labelled clearly, but the market for irradiated foods is virtually non-existent as customers show no interest in buying them.

And a Food Commission survey published in April last year revealed that despite past attempts by the EU to expand the list of foods that can be irradiated, most UK supermarkets bow to public pressure and refuse to stock irradiated products.

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