With this, the country is set to join some 40-odd countries that offer irradiation facilities for spices and other food products, including poultry and egg powder. Irradiation, if given in right dosages of high energy gamma rays, helps not only improve the shelf-life of food products, but even gives the consumers near-total bacteria-free foods. Even the natural aroma is retained.

Through a gazette notification on April 6, 1998, the centre has permitted use of irradiation for prepacked rice, sooji, rawa, atta, maida, raisins, figs, dried dates and mango (for quarantine purposes), control of sprouting or regrowth in ginger,garlic and madras onions and enhancement of shelf-life and microbial safety in meat and meat products including chicken under refrigeration. In 1994, the government had approved irradiation for preservation of potatoes onions and spices. The facility for onions is available at Nashik. Now the new plant will be able to offer similar facility for spices.

During 1996-97, India exported around $347 million worth of spices. This figure from Director General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI&S) indicate that there is a tremendous scope for exporting irradiated spices from the country, given the rising demand for such products by the cross section of developed countries. "The facility, if adopted, will help not just the trading and exporting community but even the consumers," BRIT senior manager RK Sharma said. "A survey conducted by us recently indicated that the consumers would not object to paying some 3-5 per cent higher price for near-total bacteria-free food products, especially spices."

Asample of enquiries that the Bhabha Atomic Energy Centre received for the irradiated spices follows:

Said a leading exporter, "As regards irradiation of spices, we are urgently in need of access to needed facilities as our customers in Korea and Taiwan are insisting on sterilisation through irradiation. For them sterilisation by any other means is not acceptable. This leads to loss of business for us and even loss of valuable foreign exchange for the country."

Another exporter sought details on the following from BARC:

* Medical-biological test--if contamination with bacteria not more than 10,000,000 per one gram and contamination with moulds not more than 10,000 per gram.

* If contamination with bacteria not more than one million per gramme and contamination with moulds not more than 100 per gram.

* Intestinal mocrobes in 0,2 gram, pathogens, microbes in 25 gram, sulfideduced clostridia in 0,01 gram are not acceptable.

"There are increasing number of such enquiries from the exporters," Sharmasaid, adding acceptance of irradiation of food as a technology was considered to be necessary as long as early '90s. In one of the seminar at Germany, held in 1993, the International Organisation of Consumer Union (IOCU) had accepted that the radiation processing of spices is indispensable... with an ultimate assurance that ionising radiation processing renders safe food.

Further, this technology can even be used for poultry, shrimp, frog legs, fresh fruit, and dairy products and the process is technically effective for the sanitation of such products. The other `alternative' processes can hardly compete this high energy technology and is therefore necessary.'