Food irradiation development

The idea of using irradiation immediately followed the discovery of radioactivity in 1895 by Henry Becquerel.

In fact, in the very same year that Becquerel published his work, the suggestion to use ionizing to destroy microorganisms in food was published in a German medical journal.

In 1905 a British patent was issued for use of ionizing radiation to kill bacteria in foods through food irradiation. B. Schwartz of the US department of Agriculture suggested the use of X-rays for inactivating trichinae in pork in 1921.

In depth food radiation studies in the United States began in the early 1950s, when both radiation sources and processing requirement were developed to practical point.

Most of the studies have been government sponsored at least partly because the 1958 Food Additive Amendment to the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act required advance proposal from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) before any particular irradiated food could be publicly sold.

In the United Kingdom investigations on the effects of ionizing radiation on food began in 1950 at the Low Temperature Research Station at Cambridge an somewhat later at the Wantage Research Laboratories of the Atomic Energy Research Establishment.

Earlier work (1947-1952) was carried out by at least three private companies in the United States. In 1953 President D, Eisenhower made his landmark ‘Atoms for Peace’ address at the United Nations General Assembly. Many nations joined the research on peaceful uses of atomic energy including applications in food preservation.

A similar circumstance prevailed in other countries, resulting, worldwide, in predominantly government sponsored food irradiation research programs.

Because of the lack of research facilities in many third world countries, specialized agencies of the United States also became actively involved in international food irradiation research programs.

In 1976 The Joint FAO/IAEA/WHO Expert Committee on the Wholesomeness of Irradiated Food gave a clean bill of health to several irradiated foods and recommended that food irradiated to be classified as a physical process.
Food irradiation development 

Irradiation of food: Early History

The early history of food irradiation in 1890s to 1940s is inseparable linked to they of radiation physics and to the development of the system and sources to be used in food irradiation.

This was followed by a period of intensive research and development in 1940s to 1970s that overlapped with extensive studies on the wholesomeness of irradiated foods in 1970s.

The discovery of x-rays by Roentgen on 1895 and radioactive substances by French physicist Antoine-Henri Becquerel in 1896 was the date when food irradiation began.

Soon thereafter, Samuel Prescott, a biology professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, demonstrated that bacteria in food could be killed with gamma rays from radium.

Following the discoveries there was much research examining the effects of these radiations on biological organisms.

The first patent on the proposition to apply ionizing to kill bacteria in foods was issued in the UK to Appleby and Banks in 1905.

The finding the ionizing radiation could destroy bacteria occurred in 1904, and the technology was evaluated as early as 1921 for destroying trichinae in pork.

However, radiation sources strong enough for industrial exploitation were not available before the 1950s.

However in the early 1950s, the US government became involve in the development of food irradiation and funded related research. The Atomic Energy Commission started sponsoring programs in 1950, followed by the IS Army in 1953.

The worldwide first food irradiation facilities became operational in Germany in 1957 for spices, but had to dismantled in 1959 when Germany banned food irradiation.
Irradiation of food: Early History