The Netherlands, for example, has a reputation of having the safest food supply in the world. International organizations like Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization support food irradiation as a safe and desirable method for processing food. Irradiation is a completely safe process. It will cause neither the food nor the people who eat irradiated food to become radioactive. The process of food irradiation is really very simple.
Some foods have to be exposed for a longer time than others.
It just depends on the food. After the food is irradiated, a conveyor moves the food back to trucks waiting to deliver food to stores. It kills the microorganisms that make food spoil or unsafe for people to eat. Direct exposure to large, prolonged doses of radiation would seriously injure and perhaps kill a person. However, handling or eating a food that has been exposed to a short, low dose of radiation is not harmful.