This connection carries over into the food industry when the topic of food irradiation is discussed. Food has been irradiated for many years. Few people realize this. Most people do not know enough about irradiation to know if it is harmful or not. Food Irradiation has many benefits if consumers can overcome their immediate reaction of horror.
Producers are reluctant to use irradiation to treat food because consumers are leery to buy it.
Most people do not understand that cooking is a form of radiation, and has been used since man began using fire to cook food. Infrared radiation, which is heat, is absorbed during the cooking process. When cooking or heating food in a microwave, the radio waves cause certain food molecules to vibrate at a rate of 2.5 billion times per second. This fast vibration produces heat through the friction of the various molecules. It is impossible for food to become radioactive by either cooking process.