Many people hear the term, food irradiation, and they immediately think that this must mean the products they eat will turn them into a monster from b-rated horror movies.
After all, the word sounds very similar to radiation, which is dangerous, deadly, and scary. However, this process is actually extremely safe and serves a very good purpose in the manufacturing industry.
When foods are irradiated, they are exposed to ionised energy for a specific amount of time. It can serve a number of different purposes to make foods safer for human consumption. Some of the uses include:
This process takes the place of chemical treatments in more than 50 different countries. This way, there is much less danger from pesticides on consumer foods.
Before irradiation was allowed in food production, several organizations have studied it thoroughly to ensure safety. Groups that have approved the process include:
Several steps have been used to protect foods from any danger of radiation. These include:
Food irradiation can only be used in certain specific incidents to kill pests or bacteria and to avoid sprouting. It does not give manufacturers a pass to grow or produce dirty or dangerous foods and then irradiate them.
Many people hear food irradiation and immediately become frightened. However, this is actually a very safe method of pest control. In fact, old pest control methods used chemical pesticides, which were infinitely more dangerous to the environment and to consumers. With irradiation in place for certain products, consumers are much safer than they have been in the past.