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![handle is hein.gao/gaobaaybk0001 and id is 1 raw text is:
DOCUMENT RESUKE
07349 - [C2827914I]
The Department of the Aray's Food Irradiation Program: Is It
Worth Continuing? PSAD-78-146; B-146700. September 29, 1978. 42
pp. c. 4 appendices (7 pp.).
Report to Rep. Thomas J. Downey; by Robert F. Keller, Acting
Comptroller General.
Issue Area: Food (1700); Consumer and Worker Protection: Safety
of Food Additives (905) ;Science and Technology: Management
and Oversight of Programs (2004).
Contact: Procurement and Systems Acquisition Div.
Budget Fnnctioi National Defense: Defense-related Activities
(054); General Science, Space, and Technology: General
Science and Basic Research (251); hational Defense:
Department of Defense - Military (except procurement e
contracts) (051).
Organization Concerned: Department of Defense; Department of the
Army; Department of Health, Education, and welfare; Food and
Drug Administration.
Congressional Relevance: House Committee on Armed Services;
Senate Committee on Armed Services. Rep. Thomas J, Doffney.
Authority: Food Additives Amendment of 1958 (P.L. 85-929; 72
Stat. 1784). Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.
Food irradiatiou technology, being developed by the
Department of the Army, uses high doses of radiation to
sterilize meat and poultry products. In the last 25 years, the
Department of Defense has spent about $W. illion on research on
this technology. Food irradiation is classified with food
additives and requires Food and Drog Administration (FDA)
approval before its public nse. Findings/Conclusions: The
Army's food irradiation program, while not yet succeeding in
obtaining FDA approval of irradiated meats, has made progress in
advancing the state of the art. A large portion cf work
performed in a renewed effort to obtain data to meet FDA
requirements was wasted because the Army did not adequately
reviev the contractor's work which was later found to be
unacceptable. Although default by the contractor hampered
progress toward obtaining FDA approval, the Army believes that,
with continued satisfactory studies, it could obtain approval of
irradiated chicken by September 1983 at an additional cost of
abcut $10 million. Cost estimates for restarting other animal
feeding studies to obtain FDA approval and for completing the
study on irradiated chicken range from $28 million to $47
million. Some food irradiation proponents believe that
classifying food irradiation s a process rather than as an
additive would facilitate its c'zmercial adoption, but GAO found
no basis for this belief. A potentl l benefit of irradiated
meats for use in military rations is that no refrigeration wou).d
be required dvring storage. 9owever, irradiation of foods miy L9
economically unfeas.ble because of its lack of acceptance Li the](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.gao/gaobaaybk0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)