| environ. |
food irradiation The most recent addition to food preservation technologies is the use of ionizing radiation, which has some distinct advantages over conventional methods. With irradiation, foods can be treated after packaging, thus eliminating post-processing contamination. In addition, foods are preserved in a fresh state and can be kept longer without noticeable loss of quality. Food irradiation leaves no residues, and changes in nutritional value due to irradiation are comparable with those produced by other processes. Irradiation is the process of applying high energy to a material, such as food, to sterilize or extend its shelf-life by killing microorganisms, insects and other pests residing on it. Sources of ionizing radiation that have been used include gamma rays, electron beams and X-rays. Gamma rays are produced by radioactive isotopes such as Cobalt-60. Electron beams are produced by linear accelerators, which themselves are powered by electricity. The dose applied to a product is themost important factor of the process. At high doses, food is essentially sterilized, just as occurs in canning. Products so treated can be stored at room temperature almost indefinitely. Controversial and banned in some countries (利用电离辐射是一种最近新出现的食品保鲜技术，它比起传统方法有一些独特的优势。食品可以在包装后进行辐射处理，从而消除后处理带来的污染。此外，食品以新鲜的状态保存，可以保存很长时间而没有明显的质量损失。由于辐射与其他生产工艺类似，食品辐射也没有残留，造成的营养价值也会有所变化。辐照是在材料例如食物的处理中采用高能量，通过杀灭微生物、昆虫和其他寄居于其中的害虫来消毒和延长保质期。电离辐射的来源包括伽玛射线，电子束和X射线。伽玛射线是由如钴-60放射性的同位素的物质产生。电子束是由直线加速器产生，它本身是由电力驱动的。应用到产品的放射物质的剂量是这一过程中的最重要因素。大剂量情况下，和罐头一样，食物可以被完全消毒。这样处理的食物可以在室温下几乎无限期储存。有些国家对这种方式存在争议或禁止这种做法。) |
