Food Processing Plant Using Plasma Technology Opens in Iran

Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Mohammad Eslami on Saturday inaugurated a factory in the southern province of Kerman that employs plasma technology to decontaminate and process food products, mainly pistachios.

Known as the first Iranian food processing plant using plasma technology for the sterilization and decontamination of food products, the factory came into operation in the city of Rafsanjan, a hub of pistachio cultivation.

The factory has the capacity to process three tons of products an hour.

In the first phase of operation, the plant is expected to decontaminate and process 6,000 tons of nuts per annum, such as pistachios, almonds, and peanuts, as well as cereal crops and legumes such as corn and oil grains.

Food irradiation is the process of exposing foodstuffs to rays to kill bacteria that can cause food-borne disease and to increase shelf-life. It has the same benefits as when food is heated, refrigerated, frozen, or treated with chemicals, but does not change the temperature or leave residues.

In all parts of the world, there is growing use of irradiation technology to preserve food. More than 60 countries worldwide have introduced regulations allowing the use of irradiation for food products including spices, grains, fruit, vegetables, and meat.

It can replace potentially harmful chemical fumigants used to eliminate insects from dried fruit and grain.

According to FAO, nuclear techniques help national authorities in over 50 countries to improve food safety by addressing the problem of harmful residues and contaminants in food products and to improve their traceability systems with stable isotope analysis. - Tasnim