You Might Be Cooking With Irradiated Meat, But Don't Panic

We appreciate that it's probably not easy to read the words "you might be cooking with irradiated meat" without panicking, no matter how much the headline warns you not to. (We also appreciate that the spooky picture doesn't help.) You may have terrible visions of a Geiger counter clicking ominously as you enter your kitchen or putting up a long-term nuclear warning, "this place is not a place of honor" sign on your refrigerator. But worry not: Although there is some controversy around it, the use of radiation on your meat is a way to protect it from dangerous pathogens and is perfectly safe — so don't rush to get your Chernobyl vodka for your radioactive death meal.

If you're familiar with the process of pasteurizing milk (which is also controversial, for some reason), irradiating your meat really isn't too different from that. Just as milk is exposed to light heat to kill harmful bacteria, your meat is exposed to small amounts of radiation in order to extend its shelf life. Crucially, the radiation does not go into the meat, but through it — meaning that it kills the bacteria and parasites it's supposed to without lingering in your chicken breast. There is some minor loss of nutrients, but no more than what gets lost in the cooking or freezing processes. And also, you know — you use a microwave, don't you?

As previously mentioned, irradiated meat is perfectly safe to consume. Of course, that doesn't mean people won't take issue with it. There are those who claim that it destroys nutrients and replaces them with unknown radioactive product; although the radiation would be miniscule to nonexistent, it's one of those fears that's hard to shake loose. After all, if Cold War radiation is killing our bees, what will it do to us? So, if they wish to avoid it, all they have to do is look for the symbol. No, not the black-and-yellow radiation symbol at the top of the page — irradiated meat is marked with the radura symbol, the friendly-looking, peace-sign-adjacent green-and-white symbol.

To be clear, only raw meats may be irradiated in America: poultry, raw hamburger, pork chops, and things of that nature. Products that have already been cooked, like lunch meat or hot dogs, cannot be irradiated — although depending on what's in the hot dog, radiation may be the least of your problems.