Book Description

World food needs can be met by reducing food losses through irradiation in the conservation of food. The safety for human consumption of irradiated food must by based on: 1) absence of microorganisms and harmful microbial toxins; 2) the nutritional contribution of irradiated food to the total diet; 3) absence of significant amounts of toxic substances as a result of the process. To the extent that foodstuffs can by placed in a small number of categories and for doses below 10 KGy (1 Mrad), data can be extrapolated from one member of a class to related members. Radiation chemical data, with evidence from animal feeding studies, may eventually indicate that food items with doses of up to 5 KGy (500 Krad) are safe for human consumption. Technical, nutritional, microbiological, and toxicalogical factors in irradiated food are discussed. Methods of evaluation are recommended. Results of re-evaluations and new-evaluations of irradiated foods are reported with irradiation dosage data and evaluation results.