How much does irradiating food cut down on germs that make us sick?
What we’re trying to affect is a 99.9999 percent, or 100,000-fold reduction in germs. We irradiate for the pathogen that is most risky and most likely to be there. We would not necessarily be irradiating meat to, say, kill Clostridium botulinum spores, because there’s a fairly low risk of them growing and creating the toxin that causes botulism, which may result in paralysis and death. But we would adjust the dosage to kill E. coli O157, which is more likely to be there and to grow if the product is not stored at the right temperature. We can actually count how long and at what dosage it takes to kill a particular number of microorganisms per minute. It might take a lot higher dosage to knock out C. botulinum than O157. (E. coli O157 can cause severe stomach cramps, bloody diarrhea and vomiting.) Does irradiation work against viruses? It doesn’t work as well against viruses. We’re not sure why. But in processed food, viruses don’t typically cause problems. Where we do see them is in fo
