evaluated available data in 1964, 1969, 1976, and 1980. In 1980, it concluded that the irradiation of any food commodity up to an overall average dose of 10 kGy presents no toxicological hazard and requires no further testing. It stated that irradiation up to 10 kGy introduces no special nutritional or microbiological problems in foods. In September 1997 a Study Group was jointly convened by the
1. Introduction
1) Definition of preservation and food-spoilage micro-organisms
Food preservation is the process of treating and handling food to stop or greatly slow down spoilage (loss of quality, edibility or nutritive value) caused or accelerated by micro-organisms. Some methods, however, use benign bacteria, yeasts or fungi to add specific qualities and to preserve food (e.g., cheese, wine