RI to irradiate food to keep on keeping on

Indonesia is looking to boost the use of technology to keep food fresh for up to two years without changing its nutrients or putting consumers' health at risk, the government said.

The National Nuclear Energy Agency (Batan) claimed irradiation technology by using gamma ray would kill bacteria to help delay foods from spoiling.

“We have tested it with “rendang” (beef curry) and fish provided to people during the earthquake in Padang last year,” Taswanda Taryo, told reporters on the sidelines of international meeting on food irradiation issues in Jakarta on Monday.

He said the rendang could keep fresh up to a year.

“We will enlarge the use of irradiation technology for food aimed for commercial purposes both for local and the export demand.

Indonesia currently has one commercial irradiation facility owned by a private company in Cibitung, West Java.

Batan has facilities suitable for small-scale projects.