Editing Food irradiation (section)

==Uses==
Irradiation is used to reduce or eliminate pests and the risk of food-borne illnesses as well as prevent or slow spoilage and plant maturation or sprouting. Depending on the dose, some or all of the organisms, [[microorganism]]s, [[bacteria]], and [[virus]]es present are destroyed, slowed, or rendered incapable of reproduction. When targeting bacteria, most foods are irradiated to significantly reduce the number of active microbes, not to sterilize all microbes in the product. Irradiation cannot return spoiled or over-ripe food to a fresh state. If this food was processed by irradiation, further spoilage would cease and ripening would slow, yet the irradiation would not destroy the toxins or repair the texture, color, or taste of the food.<ref name="Loaharanu2">{{cite journal |last1=Loaharanu |first1=Paisan |year=1990 |title=Food irradiation: facts or fiction? |journal=IAEA Bulletin |volume=32 |issue=2 |pages=44–48 |url=https://www.iaea.org/sites/default/files/publications/magazines/bulletin/bull32-2/32205784448.pdf |access-date=July 25, 2022 |archive-date=August 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220812075456/https://www.iaea.org/sites/default/files/publications/magazines/bulletin/bull32-2/32205784448.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

Irradiation slows the speed at which enzymes change the food. By reducing or removing spoilage organisms and slowing ripening and sprouting (e.g. potato, onion, and garlic) irradiation is used to reduce the amount of food that goes bad between harvest and final use.<ref name="Loaharanu2" /> Shelf-stable products are created by irradiating foods in sealed packages, as irradiation reduces chance of spoilage, the packaging prevents re-contamination of the final product.<ref name="FI" /> Foods that can tolerate the higher doses of radiation required to do so can be [[Sterilization (microbiology)|sterilized]]. This is useful for people at high risk of infection in hospitals as well as situations where proper food storage is not feasible, such as rations for astronauts.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Space and Food Nutrition—An Educator's Guide With Activities in Science and Mathematics |url=https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/143163main_space.food_.and_.nutrition.pdf |access-date=29 March 2024 |website=NASA.gov |archive-date=March 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240329180737/https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/143163main_space.food_.and_.nutrition.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

Pests such as insects have been transported to new habitats through the trade in fresh produce and significantly affected agricultural production and the environment once they established themselves. To reduce this threat and enable trade across quarantine boundaries, food is irradiated using a technique called [[phytosanitary irradiation]].<ref>{{Cite journal| url=http://journals.fcla.edu/flaent/article/view/88667| title=Phytosanitary irradiation: An overview| journal=Florida Entomologist| volume=99| issue=6| pages=1–13| date=2016-11-20| last1=Blackburn| first1=Carl M.| last2=Parker| first2=Andrew G.| last3=Hénon| first3=Yves M.| last4=Hallman| first4=Guy J.| access-date=February 1, 2017| archive-date=May 17, 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180517140606/http://journals.fcla.edu/flaent/article/view/88667| url-status=dead}}</ref> Phytosanitary irradiation [[sterility (physiology)|sterilizes]] the pests preventing breeding by treating the produce with low doses of irradiation (less than 1000 Gy).<ref>{{cite journal | title=Australia export programmes for irradiated fresh produce to New Zealand| journal=Stewart Postharvest Review| volume=11| issue=3| pages=1–3| doi=10.2212/spr.2015.3.8| year=2015|last1=Murray Lynch And Kevin Nalder}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Diehl JF | date = 1995 | title = Safety of Irradiated Foods | publisher = Marcel Dekker | pages = 99 }}</ref> The higher doses required to destroy pests are not used due to either affecting the look or taste, or cannot be tolerated by fresh produce.<ref>Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, IAEA, International Database on Insect Disinfestation and Sterilization&nbsp;– IDIDAS&nbsp;– http://www-ididas.iaea.org/IDIDAS/default.htm {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100328020125/http://www-ididas.iaea.org/IDIDAS/default.htm |date=March 28, 2010 }} last visited November 16, 2007</ref>