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Listen to this siteSunday 26 October 2003
RIFE 9 is the second joint annual report combining the results of the radiological monitoring programmes of the Food Standards Agency, the Environment Agency (EA), the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and the Environment and Heritage Services of Northern Ireland. RIFE gives data for samples collected in 2003.
The purpose of the Food Standards Agency's monitoring programme is to ensure that any radioactivity present in food does not compromise food safety and that authorised discharges of radioactivity do not result in unacceptable doses to the consumer via the diet.
The report shows that in 2003, consumers' exposure to artificially produced radioactivity via the food chain remained well below the EU annual dose limit to members of the public of 1 mSv (millisievert) for all artificial sources of radiation.
The RIFE report is the only independent report of radioactivity in food over the whole UK. The data is primarily used to assess the potential dose that might be received by members of the public eating locally grown food around the UK's nuclear sites. Other dose assessments are included for consumers in areas well away from nuclear sites where sources of naturally occurring radiation mainly contribute to the radioactivity in the general diet.
The report contains sections on radiological dose assessment methods, recently published surveys and research, current legislation and updates on UK, EU and international commitments pertinent to the radiological protection area.
In previous years consumers� dietary habit survey data has been used to calculate doses from �terrestrial� and �aquatic� food pathways separately. RIFE 9 still has these calculations but also has some based on a new methodology, endorsed by a group of national experts, that takes into account all public exposure routes. The doses calculated by this new methodology will lead to an improved and more reliable assessment of dose to the public from discharges to the environment.
The report shows that radioactive contamination of foods is relatively minor and doses are within EU limits. It continues to provide reassurance to communities near nuclear sites that the Government has proper monitoring in place and that levels of radioactivity in food are low.
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