Irradiation as a quarantine treatment

Poor consumer acceptance and large fixed costs have limited the use of irradiation to increase food safety and mitigate pest risks. We discuss these challenges to irradiation's use as quarantine treatment and the growth of some irradiated fresh fruits imports since 2006. Lower regulatory barriers, changes to labeling requirements, and the curtailment of other quarantine treatments may de-stigmatize irradiation on the demand side while scale economies may reduce costs on the supply side.