(5) Detection Methods for Irradiated Food

Abstract

In Japan, food irradiation is generally banned under the “Food Sanitation Law.” On the other hand, food irradiation is approved for use in various countries for the purpose of microbial decontamination, phytosanitary treatments, sprouting inhibition etc. Since imported irradiated food violates the law, detection methods for irradiated food have been needed in monitoring inspections for imported food in Japan. This section describes outlines of detection methods introduced in Japan and the monitoring inspections for irradiated food using these detection methods in Japan.