Food irradiation and its contribution to public health

Two food related public health problems of paramount importance today are food spoilage and food-borne diseases. These problems continue to affect millions of the world population, with no real solution in sight. In preventing food spoilage, a worldwide problem closely related to hunger, malnutrition and food-borne diseases, various processing methods such as canning, drying, fermentation and chemical preservation have proved to be tools of great importance. In this respect, radiation processing may be a further significant tool in the fight against hunger and disease. The application, advantages and disadvantages of this technology are briefly reviewed in this paper. 42 refs