Food irradiation was first tested in the 1920s when a team of French scientists concluded that the process can help preserve certain foods. In the 1940s, the U.S. Army tested irradiation to preserve canned food rations. In the 1960s, NASA began using irradiation to sterilize food for astronauts. But you have to give them time. Food irradiation uses ionized energy to kill bacteria that might be present in food products.
Irradiation is simply a pasteurization process.
We are using energy to pasteurize meat and poultry products, which renders those products safe for consumers. Like milk, consumers still must properly handle irradiated meat, poultry and other food products to assure their continued safety. Critics of food irradiation contend that the process is unsafe. Don Kropf, a meat scientist with K-State Research and Extension who participated in Army tests of irradiation in 1948, assures consumers that irradiated food is safe. The food never touches a radioactive substance.