# Would Irradiated Food save a Lot of energy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 14, 2008, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-irradiated-food-save-a-lot-of-energy/463577 "2008-09-14T17:47:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-irradiated-food-save-a-lot-of-energy/463577/1 "2008-09-14T17:47:00Z")
I think refrigeration of food is a major use of energy, and being able to store food for human consumption (without having to refrigerate it) would be a major advantage. I read (years ago) that cheap and safe irradiation has been done since the 1960’s-but people are afraid of it. Any chance this technique could be in for a second look? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-irradiated-food-save-a-lot-of-energy/463577/2 "2008-09-14T17:57:38Z")
[Lettuce Rejoice:](http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121988296138278119.html?mod=Letters) > [@](#): > > August 28, 2008; Page A14 > > These are salad days for the Food and Drug Administration, which announced last Friday that it will let food producers irradiate fresh spinach and iceberg lettuce to kill e-coli and salmonella. The decision wasn’t early or broad enough to avert this summer’s food scare, but it’s a step in the right direction for consumers and producers who want reasonable options to ensure the produce they’re taking home is safe. > > Under the new regime, the leafy greens can be zapped before they are sent to market to ensure they aren’t carrying bacteria that have been the source of major food scares in recent years. The method can prevent repeats of many of the major U.S. E. coli outbreaks in the past two decades in foods ranging from spinach to onions to alfalfa sprouts and jalapenos. ---
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-irradiated-food-save-a-lot-of-energy/463577/3 "2008-09-14T19:08:22Z")
Where are you getting that irradiated food doesn’t need to be refrigerated? I assume that the irradiated lettuce and spinach still need to be kept cold or they will rot, no? ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-irradiated-food-save-a-lot-of-energy/463577/4 "2008-09-14T19:57:39Z")
Maybe he is thinking of irradiated milk which can be shelf stored until opened. It seems to be available everywhere but the US. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2008, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-irradiated-food-save-a-lot-of-energy/463577/5 "2008-09-14T20:34:39Z")
I don’t buy ground beef, so don’t know if it’s still in the stores, but a while back they had irradiated ground beef. It was of course refrigerated, but you could be assured that any “bad bugs” had been killed. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2008, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-irradiated-food-save-a-lot-of-energy/463577/6 "2008-09-15T00:34:33Z")
> [@JKilez](#): > > Maybe he is thinking of irradiated milk which can be shelf stored until opened. It seems to be available everywhere but the US. Really? I’ve never heard of it. UHT is everywhere (and, yes, heat is radiation, but I’m sure that’s not what you meant). Where can one buy irradiated milk?