Introduction on microbiological and biological methods and their possible combination with other analytical techniques for the detection of irradiated food

Food irradiation is a physical method of processing and preserving food. One of the main purposes of the application of this technology to food is to obtain specific biological effects on the treated foodstuff. Typical examples of these treatment effects are listed in the article. A whole range of techniques is at disposal of the analyst to assure the Quality Control (QC) of various foodstuffs. They are based on microbiological, organoleptical, chemical, biochemical, immunological and/or physical methods. In the case of irradiation preserved food the opinion of the writer is that very often only a combination of analytical methods can solve the problem of detection of irradiated foodstuffs and in particular in most cases this combination could be formed by a biological or microbiological method + a chemical or physical one. The meaning of these combination of techniques is manifold. Combining the advantages of a rapid screening method with those of a more refined, reliable, even if more time consuming one; offering the possibility to carry out the analysis for the control of irradiated foodstuffs to different kinds of food control laboratories, often equipped in a different way, are some of the most evident advantages. These methods are briefly explained. At present, none method seems promising for the quantitative determination of the irradiation dose. Moreover, some of the proposed methods can only give a good presumption of the irradiation treatment applied to particular foodstuffs. (18 refs)