Effect of selected method of technical processing of meat on the level of cerium 144 in the meat and bones of chicken

Experiments were carried out for elimination of cerium 144 radioisotope from the meat and bones of chicken receiving this radioisotope intravitally. The basic methods of technical processing of meat were applied: soaking, boiling, corning. The meat and bones were subjected also to the action of 1% solutions of organic acids used in food industry (citric, acetic, lactic acid). The bones were treated additionally with 5% solutions of these acids. It was found that corning was the method providing best decontamination in the case of the meat, while boiling was most effective in removing the radioactivity from the bones. Among the organic acids the lactic acid in a 1% solution eliminated cerium 144 most effectively from the meat and 5% citric acid from the bones. The effectiveness of these methods of cerium removal depended on the degree of meat fragmentation - the only exception was corning. (author)