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In this episode of Don’t Eat Poop!, our hosts Matt and Francine are talking about how the majority of people are finally seeing that food irradiation may be a good solution for keeping food safe.

Between personal anecdotes, lessons from their journeys in food safety, and a new Food Safety News article, our hosts remember how this technology was first received decades ago, celebrate the big change in consumer opinion, and point out the biggest hurdles to its full adoption in the US.

In this episode:

💩 [01:03] When conversations about food irradiation first came around

💩 [02:10] Matt and Francine's childhood go-to foods

💩 [08:16] People's strong initial reactions to the idea of irradiated food

💩 [10:17] People don't like change, and they're still not seeing the "ir-"

💩 [12:07] The hardest thing in food safety and how Matt got into the industry

💩 [16:37] The review that revealed a growing acceptance of food irradiation

💩 [20:14] Will companies start adopting food irradiation?

💩 [22:07] How the FDA is getting in the way of change

💩 [25:38] What needs to change for food irradiation to be widely used

💩 [28:28] The great Listeria problem and the technology of the future

💩 [30:30] The FDA needs more change management people

Disclaimer: Episode title and content do not constitute legal or health advice.

Resources from this episode

Catch up with our last episode, where Matt shares his story, Episode 132.

Learn about Hypochlorous acid (HOCl) in this LinkedIn post by Francine.

Check out the Food Safety News article our hosts are talking about, Review reveals growing support for food irradiation.

Listen to the episode with Bob Comstock about his UV-based technology for making milk safe, Episode 131.

Learn more about FSMA 204, which has been punted yet again, in Episode 109.

Noteworthy quotes from this episode

“ Change management [is] the hardest thing in food safety. It was 20 years ago. It's still the same today. Change management is the hardest thing because getting people to change their habits is exactly what we do in food safety, and it is the hardest thing to do over and over and over and over again.” – Matt Regusci

“ I think [food irradiation is] a good thing. I also think that hypochlorous acid is a good thing, but nobody wants to change the way they do things. Everybody's like, it's the same old, same old that we've been doing for years. People don't like change.” – Francine L Shaw

We hope you enjoy this episode!

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