A critical review of the large number of studies designed to assess the safety and nutritional quality of food processed by ionizing radiation. Adopting a public health approach, the book concentrates on the specific scientific questions that must be answered before government authorities can approve irradiation as a safe technique for reducing the incidence of foodborne disease, preventing food losses, and extending shelf-life. Questions considered range from the effect of irradiation on different vitamins, to the potential for irradiated foods to encourage the undetected growth of Clostridium botulinum and other pathogens. The book, which includes well over 500 references, provides the most comprehensive assessment of the published and unpublished data on irradiated food attempted to date. By critically assessing this vast body of scientific data, the book aims to reach clear and fully substantiated conclusions concerning all potential advantages and hazards of this thoroughly researched process. To this end, the book also provides the background information needed to interpret the evidence, to understand why conflicting findings have frequently been reported, and to separate areas of continuing controversy from areas of consensus. The most extensive chapter evaluates the large body of data on the toxicology of irradiated food, concluding that safety studies, including trials in human volunteers, have failed to demonstrate any deleterious effects linked to he consumption of irradiated food. The next chapter assesses factors influencing the microbiological safety of irradiated food. The final chapter, on nutrition, concludes that irradiated foods are generally nutritionally equivalent to nonirradiated foods subjected to normal processing. In summarizing the evidence reviewed, the book concludes that, when requirements for good manufacturing practice are implemented, food irradiation is safe and effective.

DC.HQ

eng fre rus spa.

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WHODOC

WHO monograph

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