Food irradiation
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Food irradiation 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
A portable, trailer-mounted food irradiation machine, c. 1968
Efficiency illustration of the different radiation technologies (electron beam, X-ray, gamma rays)
Cobalt-60 stored in Gamma Irradiation machine
Pasteurization
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In food processing, pasteurization is a process of food preservation in which packaged foods are treated with mild heat, usually to less than 100 °C, to eliminate pathogens and extend shelf life. Past
Food irradiation
…or "electronic pasteurisation" because ionising the food does not heat it to high temperatures during the process, and the effect is similar to pasteurisation. The term "cold pasteurisation" is controversial because the term may be used to disguise the fact that the food has been irradiated, and pasteurisation…
A 1912 Chicago Department of Health poster explains household pasteurization to mothers.
A worker removing beer bottles from a pasteurization tank at a brewery in Cheshire, England (September 1918)
180 kilograms (400 lb) of milk in a cheese vat