Is Food Irradiation Safe?

Food irradiation is a process that uses radiation to destroy microorganisms, viruses, bacteria, and insects that might be found in food.  It can also cause ripening to be delayed, reduce sprouting, increase juiciness, and other uses.  Not only can it kill certain contaminants, but it extends the food’s shelf-life by stopping the ripening process.

The process is currently legal in over 40 countries, and it is in wide use currently.  Over 500,000 metric tons of food are currently irradiated each year around the world.

The USDA has approved the process as an alternative to pesticides, and the FDA has given it approval for processing ground beef in order to eliminate E. coli.  Other agencies around the world have agreed that they believe the technique is safe.

Others are skeptical.  They believe there could be far-reaching consequences that haven’t yet been discovered.  The technique hasn’t been in wide use long enough yet for any long-term effects to be apparent, and there haven’t been enough studies conducted into these long-term effects.

There is also concern over the safety of the workers who work at irradiation facilities.  The Nuclear Regulatory Commissions investigate issues regarding the safety of these techniques.  Most facilities are safe, but the technique has not been performed completely without incident.

For example, in Decatur, Georgia the water soluble caesium-137 was accidentally leaked into a storage pool and NRC had to intervene.  Because of this incident, caesium-137 has been replaced by the non-water soluble cobalt-60, even though cobalt-60 is more costly.

Overall it is believed that the technique is safe, because the radiation used isn’t in sufficient quantities to harm a human being.  But there is no way to tell whether this radiation might build up in the body over the years, or if there are effects that haven’t yet been discovered.