Labels on irradiated foods could change

Foods exposed to X-rays and electron beams to kill bacteria wouldn't necessarily have to be labeled "irradiated" under a U.S. regulatory proposal aimed at making some products less likely to scare off consumers.

The labeling would be required only on foods in which irradiation changed the appearance, nutrition or health benefits, according to the proposal posted Tuesday on the Food and Drug Administration's Web site.

Members of Congress pushed the agency to relax labeling rules in the past decade, and the 2002 Farm Bill directed the agency to consider petitions from food packagers to call products "pasteurized" instead of "irradiated."

Allowing more flexibility for descriptions on food packages may encourage "people to buy relabeled irradiated products that they may have previously avoided," according to the proposed rule.

Critics of the proposal were quick to respond.

"This move by FDA would deny consumers clear information about whether they are buying food that has been exposed to high doses of ionizing radiation," the consumer group Food and Water Watch said in a statement today. "Consumers have a right to know if their food has been exposed to ionizing radiation."