Global perceptions and acceptance of irradiated food: a comparative systematic review

Irradiated food acceptance around the world exhibits systematic variabilities across many facets related to citizens' perceived approval ratings of the product. The present research summarizes the empirical evidence on the extent to which people around the world accept irradiated food. A systematic review methodology structured the design and implementation of the present analysis. The authors performed comprehensive searches for studies featuring acceptance rates in two broad databases: Web of Science and Scopus. A total of 27 peer-reviewed articles in the English language covering 24,474 people in 15 different countries provided the survey-based data for the investigation. Results indicated that acceptance of irradiated food increased by a large margin in the past 35 years (33% in 1992 to 67% in 2024). Citizens' refusal to purchase irradiated food decreased from 19% to 16% globally in the same period. One of the emerging trends in the results was the rate of irradiated food familiarity, which remained relatively unchanged at 50% in the same time frame. Globally, acceptance of irradiated food is high and rising. Information campaigns and education about the benefits of irradiated food have led to increases in awareness and familiarity. Despite improving perceptions globally, stark variability still exists in acceptance rates, with developing countries having lower acceptance compared to highly industrialized countries. This is the first comparative analysis of different populations' perceptions of irradiated food worldwide. The paper provides new estimates on global acceptance of irradiated food and highlights variability among countries, offering valuable insights for policymakers interested in investing in it.