Changes occur in taste, odor, color, and texture.
Irradiated fats tend to become rancid.
Because irradiation breaks down the food's cell walls, vitamin losses accelerate during storage. In Europe, food irradiation has a bad reputation because it has been used to camouflage spoiled seafood. Studies on animals fed irradiated foods have shown increased tumors, reproductive failures and kidney damage. The FDA approved irradiation of food based on only five studies of 441 submitted, and prominent scientists have criticized these studies as inadequate. Indian children fed irradiated wheat had chromosomal abnormalities.