But not a question we at Advanced Electron Beams intend to answer for anyone. However, there is a lot of recent activity and research into using radiation to improve the safety of our food supply, and enough potential applications for low energy electron beams for us to pay attention.
Background
Research into using ionizing radiation (e.g. gamma rays, x-rays or high energy electron beams) for the decontamination or sterilization of food began in the 1950s - see
wikipedia overview. While safety concerns for U.S. food supply persist in 2008, radiation technology has not been widely deployed. The subject of irradiating meats or fresh produce is raised anytime there is an outbreak of signficant proportion. It skyrocketed to national prominence with the Jack-in-the-Box outbreak of E. coli in Seattle 1993, in which there were 700 sicknesses and 3 toddler deaths. More recently, after the E. coli outbreaks related to tainted spinach and lettuce in fall of 2007, high profile coverage fo the topic appeared on
NBC's Today Show and
PBS's Newshour.
The question of whether radiation is good at killing harmful pathogens is pretty incontroversial. The point of debate has been whether irradiation adversely impacts the food. While the
FDA has approved many foods for irradiation since 1968, it has historically required that foods be labeled as "Treated with Irradiation."
The past several months have seen some of the most assertive reports to date claiming food irradiation to be highly effective and a
key to food safety in the coming years. Concerned that product labeling has created confusion and fear among consumers, the FDA is in the process of
changing their regulation to only require labeling if there is an adverse impact to the treated food.
Opportunity for low energy beams
While AEB's low energy electron beam technology delivers the doses required to kill microbes, fungi, insects, etc..., our beams do not penetrate more than a few hundred microns beneath a surface. This means that the technology would not likely be used to treat foods like ground beef, lettuce, and spinach. There are, however, opportunities for improving the safety of products like grains, spices, and sprouts. Furthermore, there is a broad range of food processing opportunities in which the goal is not necessarily sterilization but rather shelf-life extension. Shelf-life extension is becoming an even more pressing topic as people are starting to see a
global food crisis. With
estimates of nearly 25% of America's food going to waste each year, shelf-life extension could play an integral role in helping to alleviate the stress on the world's food supply.
Low energy electron beams can be situated in-line at key points in the supply chain - at distribution centers or pre-packaging. While more research is needed, this technology could prove to be an energy efficient and chemical free approach to improving food safety and improving the economics of our food supply chain.
Energy efficient, Chemical free alternative?
AEB has been successful in establishing businesses in industries where we can help improve productivity while reducing pollution, energy consumption, and the use of toxic chemicals. We believe that it is worth considering how modern electron beam technology could be used to address the food safety and food availability concerns we all face today.
We invite researchers working in this area to contact AEB to investigate collaboration opportunities.