The Benefits of Food Irradiation

What is food irradiation?

Food irradiation is a preservation method food that can eliminate disease-causing germs from foods. Like pasteurization of milk, and pressure cooking of canned foods, treating food with irradiation can kill bacteria and parasites that would otherwise cause foodborne disease. According to Center for Disease Control and Prevention similar technology is used to sterilize medical devices so they can be used in surgery or implanted without risk of infection. The food that NASA astronauts eat has been sterilized by irradiation to avoid getting food-borne illness in space. The effects of irradiation on the food and on animals and people eating irradiated food have been studied extensively.

Benefits of Food Irradiation:

 * Disease-causing germs are reduced and eliminated

 * The nutritional value of the food is preserved

 * Reduced spoilage in global food supply

 * Increased level of quality of assurance in international trade of food products

Are irradiated foods still nutritious?

Irradiated foods are wholesome and nutritious. All known methods of food processing and storage at room temperature for even a few hours can lower the content of some nutrients such as vitamins. At low doses such as received by foods passing through Rapiscan scanning machines, nutrient losses are not measurable.

Does irradiation make food radioactive?

Food does not come in contact with radioactive material during food irradiation, and cannot be contaminated this way. Radiation that is too energetic, however, can disrupt the energy balance in the nuclei of food atoms, making them unstable (radioactive). This is known as induced radioactivity. Electron and x-ray beams can be energetic enough to induce radioactivity. To prevent induced radioactivity, FDA limits the energy of the radiation from these sources to less than 4 mega-electron volts. Radiation from cobalt-60 sources is not energetic enough to induce radioactivity.

Which foods can be irradiated?

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention the following foods can be irradiated:

* Meat

* Poultry 

* Grains

* Many sea foods

* Fruits

*Vegetables

However, not all foods are suitable for irradiation. For example, oysters and other raw shellfish can be irradiated, but the shelf life and quality decreases markedly because the live oyster inside the shell is also damaged or killed by the irradiation.

How can I tell if the food has been irradiated?

A distinctive logo has been developed for use on food packaging, in order to identify the product as irradiated. This symbol is called the "radura" and is used internationally to mean that the food in the package has been irradiated. A written description may also be present, such as "Irradiated to destroy harmful microbes". It is not required to label a food if a minor ingredient of the food, such as a spice, has been irradiated itself.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/foodirradiation.htm#whichfoods