|
|
|
You can get e-magazine links on WhatsApp. Click here
|
|
|
|
|
|
Irradiation tech. to preserve food without changing nutrient value
|
|
Friday, 14 May, 2010, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
|
|
Our Bureau, Mumbai
|
The National Nuclear Energy Agency (Batan) said that the country was eyeing the use of irradiation technology to make food last several years without changing its nutrient value.
Batan claims that irradiation technology using Gamma rays kills bacteria, viruses, insects or plants contained in foods and helps delay food from going off.
Irradiation is believed to prevent organisms and micro-organisms from proliferating. Addressing the international meeting on food irradiation in Jakarta on May 10, 2010, Taswanda Taryo, deputy head of the nuclear agency, said, “We have run a string of tests, for example, on Minang cuisine rendang [beef simmered in spices and coconut milk] and fish. The irradiated rendang and fish remain fresh for a year.”
We found no changes in the nutrient or vitamin levels in irradiated food, he informed. At present, Indonesia has only two irradiator facilities. The first is a commercial facility owned by a private company in Cibitung, West Java.
The second is a small-scale facility in the Batan office, which can be used for small-scale enterprises. “Those irradiated rendang products were provided to the victims of the earthquake in Padang, West Sumatra, last year. Now we are planning to expand the use of irradiation technology for food, including fruits, for commercial purposes in the local and export market,” he added.
Batan and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) hosted a four-day meeting to review and adopt guidelines on and audit food irradiation facilities in Jakarta.
Representatives from 13 countries including India, Austria, Thailand, China, South Korea and Vietnam attended the meeting.
Source: Jakarta Post
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|