The New World screwworm, a parasitic fly eradicated from the U.S. and Central America in the 1960s, reemerged in Mexico in 2024, threatening the country's beef industry. Mexico's SENASICA is combating the outbreak using the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT), which uses low-dose radiation to sterilize...
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have released a book reviewing major progress in the use of a nuclear technique to suppress agricultural pests and insect outbreaks that have become more frequent due to...
The linked article in the FST magazine was written by Cherin Balt, Managing Director of Hepro Cape. The article reports on the use of irradiation (Sterile Insect Technology) to reduce pre-harvest damage to crops caused by pests and as a post harvest treatment to facilitate...
Sciray Co. Ltd. a subsidiary of Nuctech, a member of iia, is a company based in Beijing that was formed as a spin-off from the Tsinghua University. Nuctech is one of the world’s leading suppliers of vehicles, cargo and baggage inspection systems based on radiation...
The fourth and final Research Coordination Meeting (RCM) of an IAEA Coordinated Research Project (CRP) on the Development of Electron Beam and X-ray Applications for Food Irradiation (DEXAFI) was held from 7 to 14 April 2021 as a virtual meeting. This CRP involved 14 participating...
Steritech's new X-ray facility in Melbourne has received conditional approval to treat Australian table grapes and cherries destined for the Vietnamese market. For further details click on this link to an article in Asiafruit....
Mexican exports of fresh irradiated produce to the U.S. grew by 30% in 2020. The fresh products had been irradiated for phytosanitary purposes. The quantities shipped grew to 27,034 tons according to the General Directorate of Plant Health of Mexico. Most of the growth arose from...
News from the IAEA highlights the increasing use of irradiation as a phytosanitary treatment to support international trade in fresh fruit and vegetables. The article also references the role of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), joint FAO/IAEA programs and the International Plant Protection Convention...
The IAEA report developments that enable Viet Nam to secure the export of fresh fruits to the USA using phytosanitary irradiation treatment. Further details can be found by following this link to the news article. Earlier this year the iia created the Phytosanitary Irradiation Platform (PsIP)...
On October 30, 2020 Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) called for comments on the draft food regulatory measure that would permit irradiation as a phytosanitary measure for all fresh fruit and vegetables. Currently, 26 fruits and vegetables can be irradiated according to the Australia New...
To celebrate the recent World Food Day the IAEA in partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) are highlighting how nuclear and nuclear related techniques are being used to improve food security and agricultural development around the world. For more information click...
During a webinar held on 21 October 2020, the consultancy firm ICF presented the findings of their "Study to support the retrospective evaluation of legislation related to the Irradiation of Food and Food ingredients", conducted on behalf of the European Commission’s Directorate General for Health...
The IAEA report on a study published in the journal Science Robotics which tested the use of a drone to release sterile mosquitoes as part of the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) – a form of insect birth control that has been used successfully for decades...
On March 2, 2020 the European Union started the public consultation regarding the evaluation of the EU legal framework on food irradiation. The consultation will close on May 25, 2020. According to the European Commission, this open public consultation aims at collecting factual information, views, opinion...
For the first time, a combination of the nuclear sterile insect technique (SIT) with the incompatible insect technique (IIT) has led to the successful suppression of mosquito populations, a promising step in the control of mosquitoes that carry dengue, the Zika virus and many other...
When it comes to transmitting diseases among people, mosquitoes are unsurpassed in the economic and health burdens they impose. In the absence of efficient drugs or vaccines and given the need to reduce the use of insecticides, international efforts are required to develop and implement...
We are able to provide iia members with an update on the ongoing review EU Directives on food irradiation. The consultancy firm ICF is in the process of carrying out interviews and circulating surveys to different stakeholders regarding the EC Directives on food irradiation and the...
