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Food irradiation and safety

Food irradiation is the process of exposing food to ionizing radiation for destruction of microorganisms, bacteria, viruses, or insects in the food. Food irradiation can be also applied for sprout inhibition, delay of ripening, increase of juice yield, and improvement of re-hydration. Irradiation is a more general term of deliberate exposure of materials to radiation to achieve a technical goal. As such it is also used on non-food items, such as shrink-foils for food packaging. Compared to the amount of food irradiated, the volume of those every-day applications is huge but not noticed by the consumer. The genuine effect of processing food by ionizing radiation relates to damages to the DNA. Microorganisms can no longer proliferate and continue their malignant or pathogen activities. Microorganisms cannot continue their activities in spoilage. Insects do not survive or become incapable of proliferation. Plants cannot continue the natural ripening or aging process. All these effects are beneficial to the consumer and the food industry, likewise. Independent reviews of the scientific evidence by a series of expert committees, involving the UN FAO, the IAEA, the WHO and the FDA have concluded in general that irradiation of foods is safe. However, some consumer advocacy groups like Public Citizen or Food and Water Watch maintain that the safety of irradiated food is not proven and strongly oppose the use of the technology. Currently, food irradiation is permitted by over 40 countries and volumes are estimated to exceed 500,000 metric tons annually world wide. For lessening of concerns for food irradiation, processors of irradiated food are subject to all existing regulations. Furthermore, radiation processing should serve and contribute as an ultimate critical control point under a HACCP-concept.