Food Irradiation : Principles and Applications

In 1997 the FDA approved the use of low-dose ionizing radiation to eliminate pathogens in red meat. This food processing technology can improve the safety of food and extend the shelf life of certain foods by eliminating pathogenic bacteria, parasites, and other microorganisms that cause food-borne disease. Currently, forty-two countries practice some form of food irradiation. Food Irradiation: Principles and Applications provides a comprehensive, up-to-date account of food irradiation principles, effects, applications, and limitations, including global regulatory issues and the economics of food irradiation.
Written by an international panel of scientists, this book focuses on science and technology and offers thorough coverage of the current use of food irradiation around the world. The contributors in this book present irradiation as a truly critical control point for raw, solid foods of animal origin.  Food Irradiation: Principles and Applications discusses such topics as:

-Radiation inactivation of microorganisms
-Disinfestation of stored grains, pulses, dried fruits, and nuts
-Irradiation as a quarantine treatment
-Irradiation of meat and poultry, fish and shellfish, fruits and vegetables, and tuber and bulb crops
-Radiation decontamination of spices, herbs, condiments, and other dried food ingredients
-Process control and dosimetry in food irradiation

Food professionals in both academia and industry, as well as food safety experts, food scientists, research scientists, and food processing managers, will find Food Irradiation: Principles and Applications a reliable and valuable reference.

RICARDO MOLINS, PhD, is Senior Program Officer, Food and Nutrition Board, at the National Academies' Institute of Medicine in Washington, D.C.