Irradiation technique for food preservation advantages and limitations

Food irradiation is the process of exposing food and/or food packaging to ionizing radiation. It kills many microorganisms and pests that harm foods, without affecting the quality of food. It has been thoroughly researched over the last four decades and is recognized as a safe and satisfactory method. It has the potential both of disinfecting dried food to reduce storage losses and fruits and vegetables for export trade. Low doses of irradiation inhibit spoilage losses due to sprouting of root and tuber crops. Food- borne diseases due to contamination by pathogenic microorganisms and parasites of meat, poultry, fish, fishery products and spices can be removed by this process and thus ensuring safe food supply to the consumer. One of the most important advantages of food irradiation processing is that it is a cold process which does not significantly alter physio-chemical characters of the treated product and is usually applied to food after its final packaging. Similar to other physical processes of food processing, irradiation is a capital-intensive process. Thus, adequate product volume must be made available in order to maximize the use of the facility and minimize the unit cost of treatment. One of the important limitations of food irradiation processing is its slow acceptance by consumers, due to a perceived association with radioactivity. The food industry tends to be reluctant to use the technology in view of uncertainties regarding consumer acceptance of treated foods. Several market testing and consumer acceptance studies have been carried out on food irradiation in recent years. These studies showed that, if the safety and the benefits of food irradiation were properly explained, the consumers were willing to accept irradiated foods, Considering its potential role in the reduction of post-harvest losses, providing safe supply of food and overcoming quarantine barriers, food irradiation has received wider government approvals during the last decade. and also a trend towards increased commercialization of irradiated food. (author)