ABSTRACT
Radappertization requires exposing food in sealed containers to ionizing radiation at absorbed doses high enough to kill all organisms of food spoilage and public health significance to achieve "commercial sterility". Radappertization, therefore, is analogous to thermal canning in achieving shelf stability. Radappertized meats, poultry, fin fish, shellfish, nutritionally complete meals for humans and diets for germ-free animals have excellent organoleptic and nutritional quality. The objective of radappertization is to provide foods, food products, meals, and diets for humans and animals which, even when kept for several years without refrigeration, are highly palatable, nutritious, and wholesome. Radappertization must be competitive with other food preservation methods not only in taste but also in price, energy requirements, and impact on the environment. The raison d'etre for radappertization is to destroy in the prepackaged autolytic enzyme inactivated food all organisms of food spoilage and public health significance.
