---
title: "Food irradiation"
chunk: 5/6
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_irradiation"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T04:17:44.577399+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

==== European Union ====
European law stipulates that all member countries must allow the sale of irradiated dried aromatic herbs, spices and vegetable seasonings. However, these Directives allow Member States to maintain previous clearances food categories the EC's Scientific Committee on Food (SCF) had previously approved (the approval body is now the European Food Safety Authority). Presently, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Italy, Netherlands, and Poland allow the sale of many different types of irradiated foods. Before individual items in an approved class can be added to the approved list, studies into the toxicology of each of such food and for each of the proposed dose ranges are requested. It also states that irradiation shall not be used "as a substitute for hygiene or health practices or good manufacturing or agricultural practice". These Directives only control food irradiation for food retail and their conditions and controls are not applicable to the irradiation of food for patients requiring sterile diets. In 2021 the most common food items irradiated were frog legs at 65.1%, poultry 20.6% and dried aromatic herbs, spices and vegetables seasoning.
Due to the European Single Market, any food, even if irradiated, must be allowed to be marketed in any other member state even if a general ban of food irradiation prevails, under the condition that the food has been irradiated legally in the state of origin.
Furthermore, imports into the EC are possible from third countries if the irradiation facility had been inspected and approved by the EC and the treatment is legal within the EC or some Member state.

==== Australia ====
In Australia, following cat deaths after irradiated cat food consumption and producer's voluntary recall, cat food irradiation was banned.

=== Nuclear safety and security ===
Interlocks and safeguards are mandated to minimize this risk. There have been radiation-related accidents, deaths, and injury at such facilities, many of them caused by operators overriding the safety related interlocks. In a radiation processing facility, radiation specific concerns are supervised by special authorities, while "Ordinary" occupational safety regulations are handled much like other businesses.
The safety of irradiation facilities is regulated by the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency and monitored by the different national Nuclear Regulatory Commissions. The regulators enforce a safety culture that mandates that all incidents that occur are documented and thoroughly analyzed to determine the cause and improvement potential. Such incidents are studied by personnel at multiple facilities, and improvements are mandated to retrofit existing facilities and future design.
In the US the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regulates the safety of the processing facility, and the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) regulates the safe transport of the radioactive sources.

== Origin of the word "Radurisation" ==
The word "radurisation" is derived from radura, combining the initial letters of the word "radiation" with the stem of "durus", the Latin word for hard, lasting.

== Historical timeline ==
1895 Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen discovers X-rays ("bremsstrahlung", from German for radiation produced by deceleration)
1896 Antoine Henri Becquerel discovers natural radioactivity; Minck proposes the therapeutic use
1904 Samuel Prescott describes the bactericide effects Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
1906 Appleby & Banks: UK patent to use radioactive isotopes to irradiate particulate food in a flowing bed
1918 Gillett: U.S. Patent to use X-rays for the preservation of food
1921 Schwartz describes the elimination of Trichinella from food
1930 Wuest: French patent on food irradiation
1943 MIT becomes active in the field of food preservation for the U.S. Army
1951 U.S. Atomic Energy Commission begins to co-ordinate national research activities
1958 World first commercial food irradiation (spices) at Stuttgart, Germany
1963 FDA approves food irradiation. NASA begins irradiating astronaut food items to prevent food borne illness during space missions.
1970 Establishment of the International Food Irradiation Project (IFIP), headquarters at the Federal Research Centre for Food Preservation, Karlsruhe, Germany
1980 FAO/IAEA/WHO Joint Expert Committee on Food Irradiation recommends the clearance generally up to 10 kGy "overall average dose"
1981/1983 End of IFIP after reaching its goals
1983 Codex Alimentarius General Standard for Irradiated Foods: any food at a maximum "overall average dose" of 10 kGy
1984 International Consultative Group on Food Irradiation (ICGFI) becomes the successor of IFIP
1986 January People's Republic of China opens their first food irradiation facility in Shanghai
1994 India approves irradiation of spices, potato and onion.
1997 FAO/IAEA/WHO Joint Study Group on High-Dose Irradiation recommends to lift any upper dose limit
1998 The European Union's Scientific Committee on Food (SCF) voted in favour of eight categories of irradiation applications
1999 The European Union adopts Directives 1999/2/EC (framework Directive) and 1999/3/EC (implementing Directive) limiting irradiation a positive list whose sole content is one of the eight categories approved by the SCF, but allowing the individual states to give clearances for any food previously approved by the SCF.
2000 Germany leads a veto on a measure to provide a final draft for the positive list.
2003 Codex Alimentarius General Standard for Irradiated Foods: no longer any upper dose limit
2003 The SCF adopts a "revised opinion" that recommends against the cancellation of the upper dose limit.
2004 ICGFI ends
2011 The successor to the SCF, European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), reexamines the SCF's list and makes further recommendations for inclusion.

== See also ==

Deinococcus radiodurans
Acute radiation syndrome, effects of exposure to high levels of ionizing radiation
Food labeling regulations
Food and cooking hygiene
Irradiated mail
Chemical sterilization
Radappertization
Radicidation
Radura

== References ==