Regular testing against the criterion is not required in normal circumstances for the following ready-to-eat foods: — those which have received heat treatment or other processing effective to eliminate L. monocytogenes, when recontamination is not possible after this treatment (for example, products heat treated in their final package), — fresh, uncut and unprocessed vegetables and fruits, excluding sprouted seeds, — bread, biscuits and similar products, — bottled or packed waters, soft drinks, beer, cider, wine, spirits and similar products, — sugar, honey and confectionery, ...[+++] including cocoa and chocolate products, — live bivalve molluscs, ►M2 — food grade salt.

In general, the report indicated a high level of compliance with the requirements of the EU food irradiation Directive.

The European Commission has adopted a report on food irradiation in the EU, which includes information on whether irradiated food placed on the EU market is correctly labelled.

Commission adopts first EU report on irradiated food

The Directive also states that irradiation of food can only take place in facilities approved by the competent authorities of Member States, and that such facilities must provide information on the amounts of foods treated.

Food irradiation is a physical method of processing food, similar to methods such as heat treatment, freezing or addition of additives.