3. Technical aspects. Installations
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From a technical point of view, ionization has the following characteristics.
This is a "cold" sterilization process used to treat heat-sensitive products, and therefore food products. The temperature rise is 0.25 ˚C/kGy for a specific heat product equal to 1.
This is a residue-free process: after treatment, products can be used directly, as there are no residues following radiation. Food products can be consumed immediately.
Ionization is carried out through leak-proof packaging, enabling the product to be treated at the end of the production line. All treated products are packaged; depending on the type of product, the packaging may or may not be final (i.e. intended for sale). For example, in the case...
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Technical aspects. Installations
Regulations
European regulations exist in the form of two directives issued in 1999, but these have still not been transposed into French law. The European list of authorized products has not yet been published, so national regulations continue to apply in the meantime.
Only around twenty products are currently authorized for ionization treatment in France (table
Economic data for France
(source: XIIth International Meeting on Radiation Processing, Avignon March 25-30, 2001)
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Before 2000
Significant quantities of spices were processed from the mid-1980s onwards, reaching a volume of 6,000 t in 1999.
Until the end of 1999, the total quantities of feed treated (see list of products authorized for treatment...
Service providers in France
Ionisos (5 centers) www.ionisos.com
Radier (2 centers)
Gammaster (1 center)
CEA (1 center, for research)
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