Is x rayed food is it safe?

my son works in a airport restaurant and all the food and liquids
that are used in the restaurant are put through an x ray machine.
He,s entitled to staff discount on food & drinks wich he has most days, Do you think he should stop.

There is no danger when food is irradiated. In fact, some food is exposed to radiation, to make it SAFER to eat!

The following websites have questions answered by qualified medical personel who are experts in radiation and it's effects. Here is what I found:

"QUESTION: I work at a job that makes us x ray all items that we have (food, water, clothing, keys) on a daily basis. There are no maintenance records or any calibration of these machines. Are any health risks associated with this type of daily use?
ANSWER: Thank you for your question. Your use of anything (e.g., clothing) that has gone through the scanner or your intake of anything (e.g., food, water) that has gone through the scanner is not associated with any health risks.

The items being scanned are exposed to a very low level of radiation that won't do anything to the clothing or food items and the items do not stay radioactive. Thus, there are no health risks from using or eating/drinking these items.

Kelly Classic
Certified Medical Health Physicist"

http://hps.org/publicinformation/ate/q48...

"QUESTION: If I place my breakfast, lunch, snacks, and water into the x-ray screening machine at work, is this safe when I will need to do this five times a week, times 52 weeks a year, for the next 25 years? What long-term effects could this have?
ANSWER: Thank you for your question. Sending food items through a screening machine, whether at the airport or in your workplace, will not do anything to the food and the food will not contain radioactivity after it passes through the x rays. There are no short-term or long-term effects on the food or for you.

Kelly Classic
Certified Medical Health Physicist"

http://hps.org/publicinformation/ate/q61...

ALso, just for your information:

"QUESTION: Why do we use radiation on food?
ANSWER: Food is irradiated to kill germs that might make us ill. In the last several years there have been a number of incidents of food poisoning by E. coli, salmonella, and other organisms. Food irradiation helps to kill these germs. The biggest effect of food irradiation on society is an expected significant decrease in sickness and deaths due to food poisoning. Another benefit of irradiation is increasing the shelf life of foods because germs that cause food to spoil have been killed."
http://hps.org/publicinformation/ate/faq...

No, it is perfectly harmless.

if its everyday, I wouldnt recommend it- even doctors leave the room when an xray machine goes off as they have to see it everyday, and there is a cancer risk if it is everyday.

Advise him to take his lunch in or buy from somewhere that sells non x-rayed foods.

im not sure i thought that their was a risk of cancer though? :S:S

No it'll be fine, its the energy behind the rays that causes damage to cells in the body. Unless its him himself being scanned there's not an issue, as the energy from the xrays will have disappated the moment the scanning stopped, and therefore can't be dangerous.

It is safe. X-rays at this energy do not make food radioactive. Although small chemical changes are possible (high doses of radiation does affect the taste of food) the dose of X-rays that the food will be subject to is very low. Incidentally, microwaves also cause chemical changes in food.

I used to work with someone who would irradiate sacks of potatoes with 纬-rays (which have higher energy than X-rays) in order to stop them sprouting.

Yes it is fine, the x-ray machine does nothing to cause problms in the food anymore than a microwave could do.

Is it safe to eat food that has been through a X-ray scanner, for example at airports?

Yes, it is. X-ray scanners used at airports for baggage control operate at very much lower energy and give rise to radiation levels very much lower than radiation sources used in food irradiation facilities. The radiation doses used to process food can be as high as 10,000 Gray, whilst X-ray scanners operate at less than 0.5 Gray. It is very difficult, if not impossible, to detect changes to food once it has been through an X-ray scanner.