FDA Issues Final Rule on Irradiation of Animal Feed and Pet Food

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a final rule that
amends the regulations for “irradiation of animal feed and pet food to provide
for the safe use of electron beam and x-ray sources for irradiation of poultry
feed and poultry feed ingredients.” The revised rule states that ionizing
radiation is limited to (i) “gamma rays from sealed units of cobalt-60 or
cesium-137”; (ii) “electrons generated from machine sources at energy levels
not to exceed 10 million electron volts”; (iii) “x-rays generated from machine
sources at energies not to exceed 5 million electron volts”; and (iv) “x-rays
generated from machine sources using tantalum or gold as the target material
and using energies not to exceed 7.5 (MeV).” See Federal Register, May 10, 2013.