Questions & Answers About Irradiation
A technology for protecting our food supply
Protecting the safety of our food supply is a higher priority and a
greater challenge than at any time in many years. New or previously unrecognized
food safety issues like E.coli contamination in meat have underscored
the importance of protecting people from food related illnesses.
Food irradiation may play an important role in meeting this
challenge. This fact sheet answers some common questions about this increasingly
important technology.
What is food irradiation, and why
is it done?
Irradiation technology can be used to process many types of foods, by
exposing them to appropriate levels of radiation. It's done to prevent
sprouting in potatoes and similar produce items, to eliminate insects,
to increase shelf life, and to destroy potential disease-causing organisms
in food.
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Isn't it relatively new and unproven?
No,
food irradiation technology is neither new nor exotic.This technology
has been available for over 30 years, and it has been used to
treat a variety of food products worldwide. Irradiation also has other
applications,
including sterilization of supplies and equipment used in health care
settings.
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Food irradiation technology still isn't widely used in this country.
However, irradiation has been used for many years to prepare food for
astronauts and people with immune system problems to protect them from
possible disease-causing agents. Consumers can buy irradiated
foods locally in many areas of the United States. Currently, irradiated
products include chicken, fruit, spices, and ground beef.
Worldwide, over 40 countries have approved irradiation as a method
for processing some types of foods, and over 20 countries are using the
process
commercially.
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Over the years, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and
the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have approved the
use of irradiation on a variety of food products, for a number of different
purposes. Approved applications vary by type of food. The current list
includes:
- Wheat and wheat flour. Approved in 1963 by FDA
to eliminate insect infestation.
- White potatoes. Approved by FDA in 1964 to prevent
sprouting.
- Spices and vegetable seasonings. Approved by FDA
in 1983 to eliminate microbial contamination.
- Pork. Approved in 1986 by FDA to inactivate trichina
(trichinosis) organisms.
- Fruits and vegetables. Approved in 1986 by FDA
to eliminate insect infestation, delay growth, and maturation of produce.
- Herbs, spices and dry vegetable seasonings. Approved
by FDA in 1986 to eliminate insect infestation and microbial contamination.
- Dehydrated enzymes. Approved in 1986 by FDA to
eliminate microbial contamination.
- Animal and pet food. Approved in 1986 by FDA to
eliminate microbial contamination.
- Papaya fruit. Approved in 1987 by USDA to eliminate
insect infestation.
- Poultry. Approved by FDA in 1990 and USDA in 1992
to eliminate microbial contamination.
- Fresh red meat. Approved by FDA in 1997, for elimination
of microbial contamination.
- Frozen red meat. Approved by FDA in 1997, for elimination
of microbial contamination.
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People in other countries have been consuming irradiated food for many
years, and extensive studies have demonstrated the safety of this technology.
These studies have not disclosed any health problems associated with
eating irradiated food either for humans or for animals. According to
the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology, irradiation has
been more thoroughly and systematically evaluated than any other food
processing technology.
The use of irradiation to process food has also been endorsed by the
United States Department of Health and Human Services, the United States
Public Health Service, the American Medical Association, the National
Association of State Departments of Agriculture, the American Dietetic
Association, the Institute of Food Technologists, the Codex Alimentarius
Commission and the World Health Organization.
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No, irradiation cannot make the food radioactive. The gamma ray or electron
energies uses are too low.
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The risks associated with this technology are extremely low both for
workers and for people who live nearby.
Again, irradiation technology has been used extensively for food processing,
on a worldwide basis. In this country, facilities in a number of communities
are also using radiation to sterilize medical instruments and supplies.
Radiation is routinely used for a variety of medical procedures, at hospitals
and clinics throughout the United States. These medical uses of radiation
are closely comparable to food irradiation, in terms of the risk they
pose for workers and nearby residents and they are an accepted part of
life in most communities.
No industrial technology is totally without risk. But we have many
years of experience with irradiation, and any risk of hazardous radiation
exposure from this technology is extremely low.
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The irradiation process is simple in concept. The food is placed into
containers, put on a conveyer belt, and passed through a shielded chamber.
While it's in the chamber, the food is exposed to a radiation
source. The specific procedure and the amount of radiation used depends
on the type of food, and the reason the food is being irradiated. Foods
may be irradiated wet or dry, thawed or frozen. Because the food is not
heated by the irradiation process, it can immediately be stored, packaged
or shipped.
The type of radiation used is known as ionizing radiation and it differs
from the type of radiation produced, for example, by a microwave oven.
Some irradiation facilities use gamma rays from a radioactive element
like cobalt-60 or cesium-137. However, there are alternatives to these "gamma
sources." One such option is the use of an electron beam or x-rays from
a linear accelerator.
Potential new applications of food irradiation technology are currently
under study. In each case, it will be necessary to "fine tune" the process
identifying the appropriate radiation dose and handling procedures for
each particular application. However, the basic technology and the lessons
learned from our past experience in using food irradiation will remain
the same from one application to the next.
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 How
can I tell if my food has been irradiated?
By law, foods that have been irradiated must be marked with a special
logo (right), and labeled with the words "treated with radiation" or "treated
by irradiation." Irradiated spices do not need to be labeled if they
are used as ingredients in other food products.
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How important is irradiation?
Irradiation is one of an emerging family of "end point" pasteurization
technologies, which can be used to eliminate potential disease-causing
microbes from our food before it goes to the consumer. Other examples
include a new "pulsed light" process, which may be used in the future
to control disease organisms in products like fruit juice.
These new technologies can be used in situations where older pasteurization
techniques would have been impractical or ineffective. They promise to
provide us with a formidable array of tools for safeguarding the quality
of our food
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For questions, please contact the X-ray Unit at (651) 201-4545 or health.xray@state.mn.us.
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