Irradiated Foods

Every year more than 76 million people in the United States contract food poisoning, of which 5,000 die. In many instances it is wrongly assumed to be the flu. If you consider the potential severity of food poisoning and the growth of resistant strains of bacteria the problem of food poisoning will continue to grow as a major health problem in the future.

What if I told you there was a way to greatly reduce the risk of food poisoning without changing your eating or cooking habits. A quick blast of radiation will do just that. The process is called irradiation. By use of ionizing radiation, similar to that used by the medical profession to sterilize equipment, you can cut the amount of bacteria in any food and therefore reduce the chance of food poisoning while simultaneously increasing the shelf life of food.

What is food irradiation?

Food irradiation (ionizing radiation) is too solid foods what pasteurization is to liquid foods. It is a process in which a low dose of radiation is used to remove the majority of food borne bacteria is killed. The radiation used comes from gamma radiation from a radioactive substance like cobolt-60.

Is it safe to eat irradiated foods?

Food irradiation has been used since the early 1950's in many different countries. No known health hazard has ever been found. Irradiation with radioactive cobalt leaves no residual radiation in foods. A common misunderstanding of irradiation is that foods a left with a low level of radiation. Cobalt-60 emits a very short wavelength radiation similar to microwaves.

Irradiated foods have been consumed by millions of people for decades and no known adverse affect has been found. In fact many of the spices you buy at the store have been irradiated. Currently more than 30 billion pounds of food is irradiated in Europe. The United States has about 40 irradiation facilities but most of these are used for medical supplies. Food for NASA astronauts has been irradiated since the early 1970's

Is the process safe for the environment?

Cobolt-60 has a short half-life and is relatively low in radiation. It is produced solely for medical and irradiation uses. The U.S. Government imposes very strict controls on the production, use and disposal of radioactive materials.

What other benefits are there from irradiation?

Besides greatly reducing food borne bacteria that leads to food poisoning, irradiation also extends the shelf life of foods and eliminated insects from foods. The USDA estimates that the financial gains from food irradiation in extended shelf life, reduced cases of food poisoning and reduced insect infestation are twice the costs. For every dollar spend on food irradiation the average consumer would see 2 dollars in savings.

The increase in food shelf life is more than negligible. How long do the strawberries you buy at the store stay good? Have you ever bought fresh fruit only to find it has gone bad in a couple of days? Irradiated strawberries can stay good in your refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

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