What is food irradiation?

Food irradiation is the treatment of food with a type of radiation energy known as ionizing radiation. Three different types of radiation are allowed: Gamma rays, X-rays and electron beam radiation. Ionizing radiation at the levels used for food irradiation contains enough energy to kill bacteria, molds, parasites and insects.

Why would we irradiate food?

Irradiation is used in food processing to reduce microbial load on spices and dehydrated seasoning prep, meaning it destroys bacteria, molds and yeast which cause food to spoil.
It controls insects in wheat, flour and whole wheat flour, and increases shelf life by preventing sprouting or germination in potatoes and onions.

Are irradiated foods safe to eat?

Extensive research and testing resulted in irradiation becoming widely recognized as a safe and effective method of reducing harmful bacteria in food products. Foods treated with irradiation are safe to eat and retain their nutritional value, taste, texture and appearance. Health Canada reviews petitions to allow the irradiation process to be applied to different types of foods before they can be sold in Canada. The Food and Drug Regulations also specify the source, the energy level and the total absorbed dose for the identified food.

What irradiated foods can be sold in Canada?

To date, the following products have been approved by Health Canada for irradiation: potatoes, onions, wheat, flour, whole wheat flour, whole and ground spices, and dehydrated seasoning preparations.

How can I tell if food has been irradiated?

Pre-packaged foods that have been wholly irradiated must display the international radiation symbol, along with a statement that the product has been irradiated. Food that is not pre-packaged must have a sign with this information displayed beside the food.

Pre-packaged foods that contain an irradiated ingredient which is 10 per cent or more of the finished product must be identified in the list of ingredients as “irradiated”. If the ingredient makes up less than 10 per cent of the finished product, it is exempt from the labeling requirements.

When exploring ideas for my blog, I saw food irradiation in a long list of possible topics, and realized I really didn’t understand what food irradiation is. The first time I had read it, I thought that it was the exposure of food to ground radiation, but was mistaken. After researching online using the Canadian Food Inspection Agency guides, I was able to learn much more about exactly what food irradiation is and why we do it.

Learning that irradiated food is marked with the green radiation logo, I went into my cupboards to try and see if I could find it on anything we had in the house. I was unfortunately not able to find the irradiated logo on our all purpose flour, skinned baby potatoes, or on anything in our spice drawer. I say unfortunately loosely, because it would have been nice to see for myself for research purposes, but I am neither opposed nor against irradiated foods.

The idea of irradiated foods seems positive, and is backed by an obvious massive amount of research and study for it to be sold to consumers on supermarket shelves. I infer that we will begin to see the irradiated logo on not only more 2019 approved foods, but the horizons will expand for possible foods that can be irradiated in the near future.

Works Cited

Food Irradiation. (October 2016). Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Government of Canada. Retrieved from http://www.inspection.gc.ca/food/information-for-consumers/fact-sheets-and-infographics/irradiation/eng/1332358607968/1332358680017

Irradiated Foods. (January 2019). Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Government of Canada. Retrieved from http://www.inspection.gc.ca/food/requirements/labelling/industry/irradiated-foods/eng/1334594151161/1334596074872

One of my favourite snack foods is beef jerky. I love the texture and the many different flavours that jerky can be marinated and seasoned in. Sweet, spicy, salty, or smoky, all taste delicious. What I don’t love about beef jerky, is paying around $6 per bag for a fairly small portion. This is why I decided to start looking into making my own beef jerky for the first time.

After some research into various recipes and techniques, making the jerky doesn’t seem too difficult or costly at all. It consists of marinating and seasoning lean steak, and then drying all the moisture from it using an oven or dehydrator, and that’s it.

To begin making my jerky, I went to my local supermarket and picked up a package of flank steak (about two pounds), to use for my meat. You want the leanest meat possible with little amounts of fat so the jerky’s shelf life will be longer and not go bad as quickly. The flank steak was probably around a half inch thick, which is a little too think for beef jerky, so I halved this for 1/4 inch thick flank steaks. These two steaks were cut into smaller pieces that were easier to handle, both with and against the grain for varying textures. If you like more chewy jerky, make your cuts with the grain. For less chewy jerky, cut against the grain. After the flank steak was all cut up, I put it in a large bowl, and began to add my marinade. I had looked at a couple different recipes online and used parts from each of them as my marinade.

3/4 cup worcestershire sauce

3/4 cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon of paprika

2 teaspoons of freshly ground black pepper

2 teaspoons of red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon of garlic powder

1 teaspoon of onion powder

2 teaspoons of cayenne pepper

After all the marinade ingredients were added to the bowl of steak, I mixed it thoroughly using a spoon trying to make sure all pieces were covered evenly. The bowl was covered with plastic wrap, and placed in the fridge to sit overnight. I had mixed the bowl again with the spoon a couple times during the marinating process to make sure it wasn’t just the bottom pieces that would get most of the flavour. I did it before I went to bed, and again in the morning when I woke up. By the time I went to start the process to begin cooking, it had probably sat for 20 hours in the marinade, and it was almost all soaked up out of the bottom of the bowl.

Before I put it on the racks to bake, I dried each piece between a paper towel to try and remove some of the marinade (this seems counter productive, but the meat needs to dry out in the oven, and this helps out with that big time). Before I had began drying the meat with the paper towels, I set up baking racks over top of tin foil on a metal baking sheet. With the steak on the racks, more moisture is able to escape, and juices fall below on to the foil lining. The towel dried meat was spread out along the racks, and put into the oven for 4 hours, at 175°F.

During the cooking process, I opened the oven to let new air enter, and moist air escape. After 4 hours of cooking, it still wasn’t as dry as I wanted so I flipped it, and cooked it for another hour. This extra hour didn’t seem to do the job so I took the meat out, let it cool on the stovetop, put it in a plastic tupperware container, and into the fridge it went.

Although the meat turned out to be tasty and I do enjoy eating it, it’s not true beef jerky that I had set out to make from the beginning. The reason I say that is because I am not confident enough to put it in a resealable plastic bag and into the pantry, due to the fact that moistures still remains in the meat. I think it was a combination of things that lead to the failure of my first beef jerky attempt; The meat was too thick, I didn’t air out the oven enough, and I could have done a better job removing the marinade from the steak with a paper towel. Although it didn’t turn out quite the way I wanted, I still enjoy the jerky, and am proud of what I made, which I think is the most important part. I would love to try making it again, improving on what I thought set me back.

Please enjoy this video of some clips I complied from my first attempt at making my homemade beef jerky.

Works Cited

John, Chef. (n. d.) Homemade Beef Jerky Recipe. All Recipes Canada. Retrieved from https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/241555/homemade-beef-jerky/

Gourmet, Doc. (n. d.) Doc’s Best Beef Jerky. All Recipes Canada. Retrieved from https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/142948/docs-best-beef-jerky/?clickId=right%20rail0&internalSource=rr_feed_recipe_sb&referringId=241555%20referringContentType%3Drecipe

Genetically modified foods are those derived from seeds and plants that contain genetically modified organisms, which have had specific changes introduced by genetic engineering techniques.

Thesis Statement

Through the advancement of biotechnology, genetically modified organisms have been engineered to be more beneficial, available, and efficient.

1. Resistances added to the organisms to reduce the use of herbicides and pesticides, benefiting the environment.
2. Changes to the genetic makeup of organisms to adhere to climate change and insure organism growth on infertile land and in harsh climates.
3. Livestock health and growth efficiency improved when on the genetically engineered feed.

I had prepared a research based presentation for my World Issues high school course (CGW4U) about the benefits of genetically modified foods. I thought that this research presentation would be a great fit for my first blog post. Click the “Download” button below to see the whole presentation (all images and references included).