Food Irradiation Future Still Bright

In late spring and early summer of 2000, irradiation of food made national headlines in major newspapers. Electron-beam-irradiated beef patties were introduced to the marketplace by Huisken Meats to ensure that no viable Escherichia coli would exist in the products. Hawaii Pride used irradiation to rid papaya of pests before shipment to the mainland. In 2003, about 20 million lb of ground beef and papaya were treated by irradiation. The market for both of these products was growing at about 30–4…