Analysis of irradiated food

Foods, e.g. chicken, shrimps, frog legs, spices, different dried vegetables, potatoes and fruits are legally irradiated in many countries and are probably also exported into countries, which do not permit irradiation of any food. Therefore all countries need analytical methods to determine whether food has been irradiated or not. Up to now, two physical (ESR-spectroscopy and thermoluminescence) and two chemical methods (o-tyrosine and volatile compounds) are available for routine analysis. Several results of the application of these four mentioned methods on different foods are presented and a short outlook on other methods (chemiluminescence, DNA-changes, biological assays, viscometric method and photostimulated luminescence) will be given. (author)