Call for increased food irradiation in Bangladesh

An article in the Financial Express of Bangladesh highlights that 25-30% of onions produced in Bangladesh are lost each year due to inadequate post-harvest preservation facilities. This results in periods of excess followed by shortages that results in the need for importation and resulting in costly price swings. The development of dedicated irradiation facilities, supported by the necessary regulatory structure, is put forward as a solution to extend the shelf life of onions and improve food safety and phytosanitary standards. The lack on an irradiation infrastructure is seen as putting Bangladesh at a disadvantage compared to other countries in the region that have adopted irradiation technology for this application.

The full article is available at this link to a pdf, or at this link to the Financial Express website.