Food safety & hygieneLesson 2 of 4 in the course Food preservation and sanitation

Food Irradiation: Processing, Safety, Technology, and Regulation

5 flashcards · 5 quiz questions · 5 match pairs · 5 fill-in sentences · English

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Summary

Food irradiation is a preservation and food-safety treatment that exposes food or its packaging to ionizing radiation. This lesson introduces the purpose of the process and its main uses.

Food irradiation is the controlled exposure of food or food packaging to ionizing radiation, including gamma rays, X-rays, or electron beams. The process is sometimes called radurization or radurisation. It can reduce organisms associated with spoilage and foodborne illness, inhibit sprouting or ripening, and control insects and invasive pests.

All flashcards

What is food irradiation?
A controlled treatment that exposes food or food packaging to ionizing radiation, such as gamma rays, X-rays, or electron beams.
What can irradiation do to microorganisms in food?
Depending on the dose and organism, it can destroy some microorganisms, slow them, or prevent them from reproducing.
What is absorbed dose?
The energy absorbed per unit mass of a target material; it is measured in grays (Gy).
What is phytosanitary irradiation?
A treatment that prevents insect pests in produce from breeding, helping manage quarantine risks.
What can irradiation not do to spoiled food?
It cannot restore freshness, repair lost sensory quality, or remove toxins that were already present.

Quiz questions

  1. What is food irradiation?Answer: The controlled exposure of food or food packaging to ionizing radiation.
  2. How can radiation damage reduce the reproduction of microorganisms in food?Answer: Damage to their DNA or RNA can make effective reproduction less likely.
  3. Why is electron-beam treatment suited to relatively thin food products?Answer: The electrons have limited penetration into the product.
  4. Why does food treated with irradiation not become radioactive?Answer: The treatment energies are not capable of inducing significant radioactivity in the food.
  5. Why is the phrase “cold pasteurisation” considered controversial for food irradiation?Answer: Irradiation and pasteurization are fundamentally different processes.

Based on the Wikipedia article Food irradiation, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Adapted into a summary, flashcards and quizzes.

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