Public misinformed about irradiated food; Expert
JAKARTA (JP): The public has been misinformed about irradiated food, says a nuclear expert.
"Foods processed by a standardized irradiator pose no hazards to consumers," Dr. Azhar Djaloeis said, pointing out that irradiation is a safe, alternative technology to sterilizing food, especially in tropical countries such as Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia.
"Fears of food irradiation have been greatly exaggerated. In fact nobody has never died from eating irradiated food," he said during an international information seminar on food irradiation here yesterday.
The one-day seminar organized by the National Atomic Agency (BATAN) was attended by almost 200 participants. The main speakers included Prof. Winarno of the Bogor Agriculture Institute, Dr. F. Kaferstein of the World Health Organization, Dr. Loahanaru of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Dr. M. Satin of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Azhar said many people are afraid of consuming irradiated foods as they are normally associated with nuclear materials, radioactive waste, or nuclear contamination.
The Health Ministry in 1969 issued a decree on irradiated food, allowing the application of the irradiation technology to three food substances: grains, tubers and spices.
PT Indogamma is the sole private company that has applied the irradiation technology to sterilize commodities for exports.
Azhar, also deputy chairman of the National Atomic Agency (BATAN), said Indonesia has been developing the irradiation technology to support its agricultural industry.
"BATAN now is also developing a research program to diversify the application of the irradiation technology for other materials such as cables and medical tools," he said.
The irradiation process uses rays of light consisting of electromagnetic waves to kill microbes on food or other materials. The rays are produced from raw materials made up of nuclear energy.
Over-using the rays when irradiating foods, however, can pose hazards to human health.
Nuke technology
Mirzan T. Razzak, another nuclear expert of BATAN, said that Indonesia will lag far behind advanced countries if it does not use the nuclear technology in the industrial development program.
"Many developing as well as industrialized countries have succeeded in advancing their economies after using the nuclear energy in their industrial development programs," he told The Jakarta Post during a break in the seminar.
He said that the nation has been misinformed for some time about the technology and its potential benefits and instead attack the government's nuclear power development programs.
Mirzan got his doctoral degree from the University of Tokyo in 1988 with a thesis on nuclear engineering.
He cited the industrialized countries of Japan, Germany, the United States and France as having been users of nuclear technology for four to five decades, noting that they are now reaping its benefits.
He said that nuclear technology has many purposes, including generating electrical energy.
Mirzan pointed out that nuclear technology has been widely used to generate the electricity needed in industries.
"Nuclear power currently produces 17 percent of the world's electrical energy and is expected to rise to around 20 percent over the next ten years," he said.
He said Indonesia will be able to cover almost 50 percent of its electricity needs, most of which are on Java and Bali, when the power plant project in Gunung Muria is completed.
He said that nuclear power was far more efficient and effective than solar energy or electricity generated from coal and other materials.
"A power plant needs relatively little space and does not jeopardize the environment," he said.
He said Japan, which started using nuclear power in 1970s to support its industries, has set up around 30 nuclear power plants and has never experienced any nuclear leakages, plant explosions or any other type of disaster.(rms)