How does irradiation work

Irradiation can be used on herbs and spices, fresh fruits and vegetables, wheat, flour, pork, poultry and other meat, and some seafood. The FDA requires that irradiated food labels contain both a logo and a statement that the food has been irradiated. This includes standards like controls on how much radiation exposure a worker can receive during a year of work. NASA must make sure that all of the food on space missions is free from bacteria, to keep astronauts safe from foodborne illness in space.

The IAEA promotes food irradiation as an alternative to other food protection methods, as food irradiation controls spoilage and foodborne illness, without affecting the taste or smell of food. Food Irradiation - a better way to kill microbes associated with food borne illness This article describes food irradiation and the benefits of its use.

Skip to main content. Contact Us. Food Irradiation. Radiation Facts. Irradiation does not make food radioactive. Food irradiation uses ionizing radiation to reduce bacteria, molds and other pests in food. Doses greater than 10, Gy are considered to be high doses in food irradiation and product sterilization. The effectiveness of food irradiation varies with the type of food. Spices and many fruits and vegetables have dramatically longer shelf lives.

These also show no degradation in taste and no loss of food value or vitamins. If not for the mandatory labeling, such foods subjected to low-level irradiation up to Gy could not be distinguished from untreated foods in quality. However, some foods actually spoil faster after irradiation, particularly those with high water content like lettuce and peaches. Others, such as milk, are given a noticeably unpleasant taste. High-level irradiation produces significant and chemically measurable changes in foods.

Such losses are similar to those that occur in ordinary freezing and cooking. How does food irradiation work? Ionization produces a random assortment of broken molecules and ions, some with unstable oxygen- or hydrogen-containing molecules known as free radicals. These undergo rapid chemical reactions, producing perhaps four or five thousand different compounds called radiolytic products , some of which make cell function impossible by breaking cell membranes, fracturing DNA, and so on.

How safe is the food afterward? Critics argue that the radiolytic products present a lasting hazard, perhaps being carcinogenic. There are extensive toxicological studies performed, and there is no evidence that there are mutagens or carcinogens formed because of irradiation. One type of radiolytic compound is 2-ACB [2-alkylcyclobutanone] that can be produced in small amounts in fat-containing foods, and it takes high levels of irradiation to do that. Other compounds bandied about are furans.

These are produced in foods containing sugar and acid, such as fruit juice. If you irradiate pineapple juice, you get increased furans but not as much as you get during heat processing. Irradiated food is often treated in packaging, raising the issue of whether the technology affects packaging and transfers toxins to food.

According to Prakash, this is a legitimate safety concern. She reports that the FDA has evaluated and approved the use of these plastics for irradiation, but additional research needs to explore what happens when chemicals migrate from plastics into food during irradiation. Quality Is King The nutritional and sensory quality of irradiated foods is a hot topic. The Organic Consumers Association posits that irradiated fruits and vegetables benefit the packer and grocer, not the farmer or consumer, because the consumer receives an inferior product that appears fresh but has depleted vitamins and enzymes.

Some consumer reports have discovered altered taste and texture perceptions with irradiated foods. The high-energy ray is absorbed as it passes through the food and gives up its energy. The food is slightly warmed and may taste slightly different after irradiation.

At levels approved for use on foods, levels of thiamin are slightly reduced. It takes a very high dose to see damage to quality. At levels that destroy E. In general, vitamin loss during food irradiation turns out to be less than with heat processing. It takes very high levels of irradiation to kill enzymes. The doses used for fruits and vegetables do not produce much effect on enzymes.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission oversees facilities that use radioactive sources, and these facilities must demonstrate tight fail-safe measures, extensive and well-documented safety procedures, and worker training. The branch of the FDA that regulates medical x-ray devices monitors electron beam and x-ray sources. No events have been documented that led to exposing the population to radioactivity. Food irradiation facilities do not become radioactive and do not create radioactive waste.

Electron beams and x-ray facilities do not involve radioactive substances. The Center for Science in the Public Interest responded to the FDA ruling on spinach and lettuce by saying that food irradiation should not be mistaken for a cure-all and suggested that the FDA adopt preventive measures starting at the farm level to control food-borne pathogens.

The Center for Food Safety is a US-based non-profit organisation that works to protect human health and the environment by curbing the use of harmful food production technologies and promoting organic and other forms of sustainable agriculture.

It believes that the process of irradiation may be misused to cover poor sanitation conditions and can create trace amounts of cancer. It also claims that it destroys vitamins, proteins, essential fatty acids and other nutrients. Many studies have pointed to the negative effects of irradiated food, observing premature death, internal bleeding, rare forms of cancer and fetal death in animals fed with it.

One of the claims is also that irradiation causes the formation of dozens of chemical compounds, many of which have toxic properties. Critics also express concern that labelling with the Radura symbol is mandatory only if a product has been irradiated directly and is a retail product, i.

Food irradiation is slowly gaining consumer acceptance within many parts of Europe, especially in the UK. The European Food Safety Authority EFSA assessed the safety of food irradiation, confirming that there are no microbiological risks for the consumer that can be linked directly to food irradiation. European experts state that most of the substances formed after irradiation are also formed during other types of processing and in comparable levels.

They also underline that only a very limited quantity is irradiated in Europe today and that the only negative evidence was observed in certain recent studies showing neurological problems in cats fed only with irradiated food in high doses. They also claim that further resources are necessary to assess the possible relevance of these studies to human health. Italy on its part follows European directives for products like potatoes, garlic and onions, while in other European countries it is admitted also on fruit, vegetables, cereals, chicken and some fish.