# Irradiated food? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 29, 2009, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irradiated-food/515575 "2009-10-29T06:27:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![frootle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a87d85/32.png) [@frootle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/frootle)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irradiated-food/515575/1 "2009-10-29T06:27:12Z")
Not the most exciting post :dubious:, but at least here someone may know something about it. At our local shop you can buy Indian MTE’s (meal ready to eat) consisiting of things like Palak Paneer, Bombay Potatoes etc… never meat based though. They come in a foil bag that you can either boil or empty out and nuke. I liked them for convenience., if you cook up one curry yerself (or two - depending) it’s easy enough to add one of these pre-made one’s to give the meal a bit more variety. Problem is, my SO is recently pregnant 😃 and I as much as I understand (which is hearsay), the reason these packets need no freezing, or general care at all, is due to the fact they are irradiated to make them keep. (and they do… 2 year use by date) Prolly not so good for the kid I’m thinking… but oddly, even if they are, I never cared enough to worry about it myself. humpf. Anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irradiated-food/515575/2 "2009-10-29T06:35:32Z")
Perfectly fine. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irradiated-food/515575/3 "2009-10-29T06:42:42Z")
Or to put it another way, if the food is bad for you, it’s not going to be because of the irradiation, but some other factor. It’s good to be concerned about how your food is treated, and what is good for you and your family, but there is no credible evidence that irradiation of food is bad for you. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irradiated-food/515575/4 "2009-10-29T06:47:14Z")
It’s just barely conceivable that irradiation would change the chemical makeup of some food in such a way that it’d be dangerous, but nobody has ever found an example, despite extensive tests. It’s much, much more plausible that cooking would change the chemical makeup of some food in such a way that it’d be dangerous, and in fact several examples of this are known. So if you’re not worried about cooking your food, you should be even less worried about irradiating it. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irradiated-food/515575/5 "2009-10-29T08:26:37Z")
By the way, if they’re Tasty Bite entrees, they [aren’t irradiated](http://www.worldpantry.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/tastybite/faq.d2w/report). I doubt any of the other brands are either; they use [Aseptic processing](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aseptic_processing). (There’s also a slight linguistic irony about someone being worried about food that’s been irradiated finding it perfectly fine to ‘nuke’ it.) ---
**Author:** ![frootle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a87d85/32.png) [@frootle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/frootle)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irradiated-food/515575/6 "2009-10-29T08:32:29Z")
> [@](#): > > …that irradiation would change the chemical makeup of some food in such a way that it’d be dangerous That to me makes sense, but this isn’t really where my concern is as much. I must say that I am ignorant here, hence the post, and will quite adeptly concrete the fact by pointing out that I would have thought that some lingering radiation would exist, just because it, in itself, is such a bastard. (half life?) I have been influenced thus far by leftist-type websites for info, as I can’t find any Pro-irradiation ones.. not that I’m sceptical .. … ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irradiated-food/515575/7 "2009-10-29T09:00:58Z")
> [@frootle](#): > > I must say that I am ignorant here, hence the post, and will quite adeptly concrete the fact by pointing out that I would have thought that some lingering radiation would exist, just because it, in itself, is such a bastard. (half life?) Nope; that’s not the kind of radiation they use. They use gamma rays and x rays, which aren’t going to leave radiation behind any more than a microwave oven or sunlight would. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irradiated-food/515575/8 "2009-10-29T09:03:38Z")
> [@frootle](#): > > That to me makes sense, but this isn’t really where my concern is as much. > > I must say that I am ignorant here, hence the post, and will quite adeptly concrete the fact by pointing out that I would have thought that some lingering radiation would exist, just because it, in itself, is such a bastard. (half life?) > > I have been influenced thus far by leftist-type websites for info, as I can’t find any Pro-irradiation ones.. not that I’m sceptical .. … Half life [other than a really fun game] is the amount of time it takes for a radioactive material to decay … so unless they actually include uranium salts as a seasoning, half life doesn’t pertain to food … 😃 So, you could jump into a reactor for a quick bake, and you are not radioactive, once they fish your crispy self out. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irradiated-food/515575/9 "2009-10-29T09:06:12Z")
Wikipedia has a page on it here that’s pretty good. > **[Food irradiation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_irradiation)** > > Food irradiation (sometimes radurization or radurisation) is the process of exposing food and food packaging to ionizing radiation, such as from gamma rays, x-rays, or electron beams. Food irradiation improves food safety and extends product shelf life (preservation) by effectively destroying organisms responsible for spoilage and foodborne illness, inhibits sprouting or ripening, and is a means of controlling insects and invasive pests. > In the US, consumer perception of foods treated with irr... ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irradiated-food/515575/10 "2009-10-29T10:41:39Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Half life [other than a really fun game] is the amount of time it takes for a radioactive material to decay … so unless they actually include uranium salts as a seasoning, half life doesn’t pertain to food … 😃 > > So, you could jump into a reactor for a quick bake, and you are not radioactive, once they fish your crispy self out. Well, no. A reactor throws out radioactive particles, which DO make what they hit radioactive. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irradiated-food/515575/11 "2009-10-29T13:33:07Z")
Aren’t those things full of fat and sodium? Are they actually good for you on a regular basis? (and I eat a packet of Palak Paneer over rice, or something similar, every week). I think a pregnant woman would have more to worry about over the nutritional content of irradiated food packets than any radiation…It’s like the difference between living on boxes of Lipton’s Chicken Noodle soup (just add water) and making chicken soup from scratch. ---
**Author:** ![Loisseau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/2bfe46/32.png) [@Loisseau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loisseau)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irradiated-food/515575/12 "2009-10-29T15:18:12Z")
at Natick Army Labs in MA, I ate some baked ham that had been irradiated and stored at room temp in multi-laminate foil for ten years. Part of the then new MRE food program for the armed forces. It was delicious, and that was thirty five years ago. Still alive and well! ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irradiated-food/515575/13 "2009-10-29T15:25:18Z")
Being worried about the health effects of irradiated food is like being worried about eating meat from an animal that you shot in case the meat starts shooting bullets back out at you. It’s an understandable worry, given the general lack of understanding about radioactivity, but when you know how it works, it’s a very silly worry. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irradiated-food/515575/14 "2009-10-29T15:29:52Z")
What about four thousand six hundred ninety one irradiated haggises? ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irradiated-food/515575/15 "2009-10-29T16:08:46Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > It’s much, much more plausible that cooking would change the chemical makeup of some food in such a way that it’d be dangerous, and in fact several examples of this are known. Can you elaborate on this, just out of curiosity? I’d be interested in knowing what foods become dangerous when cooked, or am I misunderstanding? ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irradiated-food/515575/16 "2009-10-29T16:21:42Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > Aren’t those things full of fat and sodium? Are they actually good for you on a regular basis? (and I eat a packet of Palak Paneer over rice, or something similar, every week). I’d think one advantage of irradiated food is that they would not need as many additives, or at least as many preservatives, as non-irradiated food. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irradiated-food/515575/17 "2009-10-29T16:23:37Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > Can you elaborate on this, just out of curiosity? > I’d be interested in knowing what foods become dangerous when cooked, or am I misunderstanding? I don’t know if this is exactly what Chronos is talking about, but things like “charring”/“blackening” a food can turn some of it into carcinogens. Smoking meats also adds some carcinogens from the smoke (along with some delicious flavor.) ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/irradiated-food/515575/18 "2009-10-29T16:35:23Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Well, no. A reactor throws out radioactive particles, which DO make what they hit radioactive. Well, technically a nuclear reactor emits neutrons, which can interact with an “activate” non-radioactive elements via transmutation (i.e. an atom takes on the neutron and converts to an unstable isotope, which then decays). X-rays and gamma rays can produce highly ionized molecules which can be hazardous to living creatures, and in fact, this is what makes it so effective at killing bacteria, but after a short relaxation period they will undergo redox reactions that will reduce this to no more than a nominal amount of free radicals that are present in any food, including your free range, hormone-free, no antibiotics organic foodstuff. > [@zoid](#): > > Can you elaborate on this, just out of curiosity? > I’d be interested in knowing what foods become dangerous when cooked, or am I misunderstanding? A number of known carcinogens can be produced by cooking, especially with open flame or intense heat. For instance, [acrylamide](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/07/020726081009.htm) is produced by broiling, baking, or frying high carbohydrate foods like potatoes and cereals. All meat (but especially red meat) contains creatinine, which is a daughter product of the breakdown of creatine phosphate. When heated, creatinine produces polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heterocyclic amines, which has been linked to cancer in numerous clinical studies. (I’ll leave it as an exercise for the reader to search on this, as there are just too many studies to begin to list). There is no demonstrated health risk from irradiated food that is not present in non-irradiated food. Irradiation of food, especially foods that are prone to spoilage or provide a rich medium for bacterial growth, would be a huge boon toward public health and safety, and would make it easier to provide nutrient-rich foods (like dairy products and processed soya) to Third World populations who currently rely on semi-perishable staples due to the lack of reliable logistics and refrigeration. The fear of irradiated food is based on ignorance without any empirical data that indicates a significant health risk of any kind. Stranger