Radiation disinfestation of foods

Loss of foods in storage due to infestation of insects varies from 10-25%. The fumigation is being used to control stored product pests in storage. The use of toxic chemicals to control insects has been questioned due to their toxic residues. There is a need for supplementary method to protect food from loss in storage. Irradiation has been found to be one of the methods which could effectively be used for disinfestation of stored food products. Considerable research and development work has been carried out which shows that insects in all their development stages could be disinfested at a dose of 0.50 kGy. Low dose of radiation has also been found to control the insects of quarantine importance. After disinfestation by radiation the products have to be protected from re-infestation. Experimental results on packages studies show that proper packaging material could be developed to check re-infestation of insects after irradiation treatment. Therefore, irradiation is an effective physical method which could be used for the disinfestation of all stored food products. (author). 10 refs