PREFACE 



This report on the economic feasibility of pasteurizing selected fresh produce 

 commodities by ionizing radiation is based on research conducted for the Division 

 of Isotopes Development, UoSo Atomic Energy Commission, It compares preliminary 

 estimates of radiation-pasteurizing costs with estimates of some important benefits 

 •which may result from this new method of food preservation. Included also is a 

 brief discussion of the potential impact of radiation~pasteurizing on produce market 

 structure, conduct, and performance. 



Dr. Robert Ho Reed, of the Western Research Office of the Marketing Economics 

 Division, ERS, participated in planning the research and gave valuable assistance 

 in the analysis,, Dr« Kevin G. Shea and Mr, George R. Dietz, Division of Isotopes 

 Development, U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, assisted with technical information 

 and helpful suggestions 



The author appreciates the technical information and suggestions received from, 

 a number of persons representing these public and private organizations: 



Brookhaven National Laboratories, Upton, N. Y. 



Atomic Energy of Canada, Ltd., Ottawa, Canada,, 



UoSo Army Natick Laboratories, Natick, Mass a 



Vitro Engineering Company, New York, N» Y. 



Associated Nucleonics, Inc., Garden City, N. Y. 



Ethicon Corporation, Somerville, N. J. 



High Voltage Engineering Corporation, Burlington, Mass, 



Radiation Dynamics, Inc, Westbury, N. Y. 



General Electric Research Laboratory, Schenectady, N Y; and Vallecitos Atomic 



Laboratory, Pleasanton, Calif, 

 University of California, Davis. 

 University of Florida, Gainesville. 

 University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. 

 Continental Can Company, Chicago, 111. 

 Hazelton Laboratories, Inc., Falls Church, Va. 

 U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, Washington, 



D.C. 

 UoSo Department of Commerce, National Bureau of Standards and Office of 



Technical Services, Washington, D C 

 UoSo Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Washington, D 3 C 

 Federal Power Commission, Washington, D.C. 



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