Food Standards Agency
Sunday 5 July 2009
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Listen to this siteDetails of the Agency-funded research programme supporting our radiological surveillance.
Radioactivity, like any other contaminant of food, needs to be monitored to ensure that food safety is not compromised and consumers are adequately protected. An extensive monitoring programme for radionuclides in food is carried out by the Agency and results are published annually in the Radioactivity in Food and the Environment report (RIFE). In conjunction with results from Scotland provided by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), the monitoring programme provides the only independent UK-wide data of radioactivity in foods. More details of the latest RIFE report .
The aim of this research programme is to support the work carried out on the radiological monitoring programme and to ensure that there are no unidentified significant routes of radiation exposure to consumers from their diet.
Although the monitoring programme is directed towards pathways that may result in the highest doses to consumers, the radiological significance of all foodchain pathways is kept under constant review. This is to ensure that the Agency detects minor routes of radiation exposure, new foodchain pathways or those that may be present infrequently or affect only a few people.
Analytical methods will be developed to provide the Agency with data on the levels of radioactivity in a range of foods necessary to assess the potential radiation dose to consumers. Laboratories will participate in proficiency testing schemes to ensure that their analytical performance is satisfactory.
The radiological monitoring programme principally provides data on the amount and type of radioactivity in a variety of foods grown or fished locally around sites that discharge radioactivity. The data is used to calculate potential radiation doses to local consumers as a result of their diet. The key objective of the programme is to ensure that EU annual dose limits are not exceeded. The rationale of the research programme is to support the effectiveness of the radiological monitoring programme, ensuring that the best science is used.
Name
: Caroline Morris
Tel
: 020 7276 8781
Email
:
caroline.morris@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk
A review of radiological research in the Effects of Radioactivity in the Environment (R01), Support of Radiological Surveillance (R02) and Radiological Emergencies (C05) programmes took place during 2003. The review covered five years and was carried out by a panel of five experts independent from the FSA and its contractors.
Information about Agency-funded research projects.
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