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The use of irradiated food for immunosuppressed hospital patients in the United Kingdom
Author(s) -
Pryke D. C.,
Taylor R. R.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
journal of human nutrition and dietetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.951
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1365-277X
pISSN - 0952-3871
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-277x.1995.tb00336.x
Subject(s) - medicine , food irradiation , intensive care medicine , environmental health , irradiation , surgery , nuclear physics , physics
Irradiation has been recommended as a method for preparing foods for hospital patients requiring sterile diets as a result of intensive therapy or disease that has resulted in suppression of the immune system. It has a number of advantages over other methods and in recognition of this, in the United Kingdom, the use of irradiated foods for hospital patients has been specifically exempted from regulatory control. Due to a number of factors there is a move away from keeping patients in a sterile environment; however, irradiation may still have a role to play for vulnerable and high‐risk patients. This paper summarizes the use of radiation‐sterilized foods in hospitals in the United Kingdom and discusses the future potential for both radiation‐sterilized and ‘radiation‐pasturized’ foods.