72 Handbook of herbs and spices
free movement of plant products from one country to another and sometimes from
one state to another within a country. Therefore, in order to be competitive in international
market effective quarantine treatment of food and agricultural produce is necessary.
Fumigation of food and food ingredients with such chemicals as ethylene dibromide
(EDB), Methyl Bromide (MB), and ethylene oxide (ETO) either has been banned or
is being increasingly restricted globally. According to the Montreal Protocol, by the
end of this decade all the above fumigants will be phased out in the advanced
countries. The developing countries have been given some grace period to phase
them out by the middle of the next decade. The obvious alternative to business and
trade is therefore radiation processing. The effectiveness of irradiation as a broad-
spectrum quarantine treatment first recognized by the North American Plant Protection
Organization (NAPPO) in 1989 is irradiation. In the USA USDA/APHIS first approved
in July 1997 the use of irradiation for quarantine treatment of fresh papaya, lychee,
and carambola fruits from Hawaii.
The agreements on sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) practices and technical barriers
to trade (TBT) under the World Trade Organization (WTO) have provided a distinct
incentive for the adoption of irradiation as an SPS measure in international trade
under the principle of equivalence. Thus, irradiation can be applied to overcome
quarantine barriers, and to hygienize products for international trade. These agreements
are administered under the standards, guidelines, and recommendations of the
international organizations such as the Codex Alimentarius Commission, International
Plant Protection Convention, and The International Office of Epizootics. The
governments that impose regulations more strictly than those recommended by the
above organizations would be required to justify their positions to the WTO. This
should encourage application of radiation for improving international trade in agro-
horticultural foods among the WTO member states. The Plant and Animal Health
Inspection Service (APHIS) of the USDA issued a Final Rule on ‘Irradiation
Phytosanitary Treatment for Imported Fruits and Vegetables’ in 2002. Similarly, the
International Plant Protection Convention has also included irradiation as a quarantine
treatment. These regulations have opened up the market for irradiated commodities.
Today, more than 40 countries have approved the use of radiation processing
technology for different food commodities including spices and herbs. A bulk of
nearly half a million tons of food commodities that are processed around the world
is comprised of spices and herbs. International regulations require that the irradiated
commodities be labeled with the internationally recognized ‘radura’ symbol and a
statement describing the treatment. The countries that have approved irradiation of
spices include EU, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China,
Croatia, Czech Republic, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico,
New Zealand, Poland, Pakistan, Peru, South Africa, Thailand, UK, USA, Vietnam,
and Yugoslavia.
3.7 Detection of irradiated spices and herbs.......................................
Because of the small amount of energy involved in radiation processing, no significant
differences can be observed in terms of appearance, smell or taste of irradiated
commodities. It is difficult to detect small changes by simple chemical tests. Detection
of irradiation treatment may, however, be necessary for obtaining legal remedy in
case of disputed samples. A number of sophisticated techniques can detect spices or