Background and Prospect for the Commercialization of Food Irradiation

Food irradiation is increasingly recognized as the sole viable alternative to traditional method of food preservation in terms of reducing the overall quantity of spoiled food, reducing energy used in food storage, and reducing reliance on chemicals known to be hazardous but currently required for disinfestation. Irradiation with ionizing radiation can be applied in the fields of sprout inhibition, disinfestation of insects, sterilization, delay of ripening, and improvement of organoleptic properties in food. In order to back up the commercialization of food irradiation in Korea, this review not only dealt with the international background for food irradiation and wholesomeness of irradiated food, but also evaluated economic feasibility of irradiated food, irradiation facilities, and domestic status of food irradiation studies.