ABSTRACT
Doubts about the safety for consumption of irradiated foods have held up the practical introduction of this process for many years. As described in Chapters 3-8, vast research programs have been carried out to test the wholesomeness of irradiated foods, and the processes occurring when foods are irradiated are now well understood. Committees of experts who have examined the available evidence at an international level and in many countries at a national level have agreed that there is sufficient evidence to conclude that foods irradiated at a dose level of up to lOkGy are safe and wholesome (Chapter 9). A WHO report published in 1994 has once more reviewed the scientific evidence and has fully confirmed the earlier conclusions (Chapter 6). Some experts, like those assembled in the CAST task force (Council for Agricultural Science and Technology) in the United States, have avoided setting an upper dose limit and have concluded that foods exposed to ionizing radiation under the conditions proposed for commercial application are wholesome, i.e., safe to eat.
