Food irradiation: an overlooked opportunity for food safety and preservation

摘要

Food-borne illness is a major source of morbidity and mortality. Irradiating food is a tool that can safely and effectively reduce illness from food-borne pathogens. It can also extend the shelf life of many different kinds of foods and reduce losses resulting from spoilage. Prevention of disease is a core public health mission. Food-borne illness is a major source of preventable morbidity and mortality. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that in 1999 food-borne illnesscaused 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations, and 5,200 deaths in the United States. Between 1990 and 1999. nearly 300 outbreaks of food-borne illness occurred in schools, affecting approximately 16.000 children. Among all illnesses attributable10 food-borne transmission, 30 percent are caused by bacteria, 67 percent by viruses, and 3 percent by parasites. Of the deaths attributable to food-borne illness, bacteria accounted for 72 percent, parasites 21 percent, and viruses 7 percent. Six pathogens have been identified as being responsible for more than 90 percent of the estimated food-related deaths: Salmonella (31 percent), Listeria (28 percent), Toxoplasma (21 percent), Norwalk-like viruses (7 percent), Campylobacter (5 percent), and Escherichia. coli O157:H7 (3 percent). Overall, the federal government spends approximately 1 billion dollar on food salety measures. In addition, the Economic Research Service (ERS) of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates that through incurred medical costs, productivity losses, and premature deaths, food-borne illness costs the United States between 7 billion dollar and 37 billion dollar per year.