Applications of Irradiation on Meat and Meat Products

Abstract

Food irradiation is considered an important tool not only for ensuring safety but also for extending the shelf life of fresh meat. Food irradiation has been shown to eliminate pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms, providing a safer, longer lasting food supply for human consumption. It is one of the best emerging technologies to ensure the microbiological safety of meat. Irradiation has been viewed by most food safety officials and scientists, as an effective critical control point in a hazard analysis and critical control points system established for meat processing. Ionizing radiation includes gamma rays, electron beams, and X-rays. Gamma irradiation uses high-energy gamma rays from cobalt 60 or cesium 137, which have long half-lives (5.27 and 30.1 years, respectively) and high penetration power and thus can treat bulk foods on shipping pallets. Electron beam (Ebeam) irradiation uses a stream of high-energy electrons, known as beta rays, which can penetrate only approximately 5 cm. X-Irradiation, which has intermediate properties of the two previously discussed irradiation methods, penetrates foods more shallowly than gamma irradiation but much more deeply than electron beams. The Food and Drug Administration has approved irradiation of red meat at low dose levels to improve food safety in response to a petition from industry sources. Furthermore, the use of irradiation had previously been permitted in pork (1 kGy) and chicken (3 kGy). Meat and meat products pasteurized by radiation have been successfully marketed in Belgium, France, China, Indonesia, The Netherlands, South Africa, and Thailand for a number of years. © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.