# Does irradiated food contain radiation in it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 3, 2004, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-irradiated-food-contain-radiation-in-it/267279 "2004-10-03T03:00:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bummerboy2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@bummerboy2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bummerboy2)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2004, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-irradiated-food-contain-radiation-in-it/267279/1 "2004-10-03T03:00:55Z")
> [@](#): > > The FDA recently approved the irradiation of beef, and the irradiation of chicken has been approved for some time. Irradiation of these meats could prevent many forms of food poisoning. However, many people have a significant problem with the words “nuclear radiation.” Therefore, irradiated food is not very common in this country. Wouldn’t irridation cause us and the food exposure to radiation? ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2004, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-irradiated-food-contain-radiation-in-it/267279/2 "2004-10-03T03:07:36Z")
No. I am only a novice on the subject of nuclear chemistry and I wouldn’t take this info to heart but I am pretty sure only elements with more than 83 protons are radioactive and emit radiation. So if you direct radiation at something like Carbon, which has 6 protons, or Oxygen which has 8 protons, or Hydrogen which has 1 proton you will not make them radioactive. Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen make up around 90%+ of food. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2004, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-irradiated-food-contain-radiation-in-it/267279/3 "2004-10-03T03:08:22Z")
no more than hot food has fire in it, at least that’s what I was told when I worked with Bone marrow transplant patients cared for in sterile environments. I could have been lied to. Its happened, it will probably happen again. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2004, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-irradiated-food-contain-radiation-in-it/267279/4 "2004-10-03T03:08:38Z")
What I meant was even if you direct radiation at Carbon, carbon still only has 6 protons and you need 83 protons to be radioactive. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2004, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-irradiated-food-contain-radiation-in-it/267279/5 "2004-10-03T03:19:25Z")
> [@Wesley Clark](#): > > What I meant was even if you direct radiation at Carbon, carbon still only has 6 protons and you need 83 protons to be radioactive. Not exactly. All elements past lead have only radioactive isotopes, however, there are still radioactive isotopes of elements all over the periodic table. Carbon-14, for example, is radioactive (that’s what they use for radio-carbon dating.) It’s that the ratio between atomic mass and total mass has to be higher than some amount (which I don’t remember off the top of my head.) ---
**Author:** ![mischievous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mischievous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mischievous)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2004, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-irradiated-food-contain-radiation-in-it/267279/6 "2004-10-03T03:56:59Z")
Irradiated food has been _hit with_ radiation, it is not itself radioactive. The food is perfectly safe and does not become radioactive. There is a small amount of damage done to the food by the radiation, but this is many orders of magnitude less than the damage that you will do to the food by cooking it. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2004, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-irradiated-food-contain-radiation-in-it/267279/7 "2004-10-03T04:24:03Z")
> [@bummerboy2](#): > > Wouldn’t irridation cause us and the food exposure to radiation? [Frequently Asked Questions about Food Irradiation](http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/foodirradiation.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2004, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-irradiated-food-contain-radiation-in-it/267279/8 "2004-10-03T08:23:50Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > Not exactly. All elements past lead have only radioactive isotopes, however, there are still radioactive isotopes of elements all over the periodic table. Carbon-14, for example, is radioactive (that’s what they use for radio-carbon dating.) It’s that the ratio between atomic mass and total mass has to be higher than some amount (which I don’t remember off the top of my head.) True. An hour after I posted that I remembered that an uncomfortable ratio of protons and neutrons can make any atom radioactive. I also remember learning that everything is radioactive in small amounts. There are small amounts of Carbon-14, Nitrogen-16 and various other isotopes in the food we eat and the air we breathe so as far as the OP is concerned we are already radioactive, just not to dangerous levels. ---
**Author:** ![bizzwire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/958977/32.png) [@bizzwire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizzwire)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2004, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-irradiated-food-contain-radiation-in-it/267279/9 "2004-10-03T15:40:26Z")
IIRC, irradiated food is typically exposed to gamma radiation, which are high energy photons. If you expose your chicken to sunlight, then eat it, would you worry about ingesting sunlight? ---
**Author:** ![Bob55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Bob55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob55)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2004, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-irradiated-food-contain-radiation-in-it/267279/10 "2004-10-03T17:13:53Z")
> [@mischievous](#): > > Irradiated food has been _hit with_ radiation, it is not itself radioactive. The food is perfectly safe and does not become radioactive. There is a small amount of damage done to the food by the radiation, but this is many orders of magnitude less than the damage that you will do to the food by cooking it. This is correct and what I was taught about radiation when I use radioactive isotopes. Getting hit with the radiation from the isotopes isn’t terrible (of course long-term it might be), but actually ingesting an isotope and having it constantly emit radiation from inside of you is where real damage can occur.