ABSTRACT
The sensible advice given by food and health professionals does not attract the consumer as much as the radical, magic bullet approach of a special diet. The natural approach has been taken up by both pro- and anti-food irradiation advocates. The pro-food irradiation advocates stress that the technology is a more environmentally friendly way to control foodborne diseases and food spoilage without resorting to harsher treatment or chemicals. Standards are normally evolved through negotiations between producers or processors and the government. Once policy decisions have been made, it is the producers or processors who next influence the quality of foods available to consumers. Influences on the quality of the foods available on the market originate from producers, processors, retailers, nutritionists, and to a lesser extent, consumer groups and the media, all of whom contribute in one way or another to the food chain and consumers’ perceptions of food.
