Destroying harmful bacteria that
cause food-borne disease has enormous potential for saving lives
and millions of pesos in health care. Food irradiation is a safe
and effective means of eliminating armful bacteria such as E.coli,
Salmonella and Listeria in meat and poultry as well as insects
in grain, fruit and spices. This technology can also help preserve
valuable food supply. Interest in food irradiation is growing
due to an increase in public awareness on food safety issues.
Gamma Irradiation uses the radioisotope Cobalt-60
(Co-60) to treat products by destroying microorganisms. This
technology is primarily used to sterilize medical supplies and
a variety of consumer goods such as cosmetics, powders, contact
lens solutions, pharmaceutical products and certain foods and
food-packaging material.
Gamma processing is a superior technology because
it is powerful, highly effective and reliable. It can penetrate
all parts of products and their packaging, ensuring sterility
because products remain sealed in their final package. Gamma
is also very safe and environmentally friendly. It is a simple
yet proven process. MDS Nordion designs and builds commercial
radiation processing systems and is the leading supplier of
Co-60. Co-60 emits gamma rays and is contained in a source rack.
When not in use, it is safely stored in a deep pool of water
that acts as a radiation shield. Products that are to be sterilized
are transported into the radiation room, the source rack is
raised from the pool, and the product is exposed to the gamma
energy for a predetermined period of time.
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