Effects of Processing on Radionuclide Content of Food - Implications for Radiological Assessments

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Abstract
Published information on the effects of processing on the radionuclide content of food has been reviewed. Data are scarce; the majority of the available information concerns 137Cs, 90Sr and 131I, with some dealing with 35S, 210Pb and 210Po. For broad assessments of doses to critical groups from controlled releases, processes that can be carried out on a domestic or local scale are of greatest relevance. In this case, food can be prepared in various ways and cooking liquors can also be consumed, either directly or in the form of sauces. Consequently, when making estimates of intakes of activity, it would be reasonable to assume that, for the majority of food items and most radionuclides, effectively no loss occurs as a result of processing, provided that the activity concentrations in the foodstuff relate to the edible portion. More information on the behaviour of potentially volatile radionuclides during cooking would however be useful. Recommendations are made about the presentation of data on food processing.

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