Research on food irradiation has been going on for decades, Marks said.

“The work that’s been done previously has been with gamma irradiation or E-Beam, but these are high-energy, and, as a result, you wouldn’t put one of these in your garage,” Marks said. “They require special facilities. With low-energy, the shielding requirements are much less. (You) can build a unit and put it in an existing food processing facility.”

Currently, to irradiate food, most companies have to send a product away for treatment, Marks said.

The team has been working with Rayfresh for about three years, said Pete Schoch, president of the company building the low-energy machine.

“A part of what MSU has done for us is to validate our idea. They’ve done that by using their facilities and by actually inoculating products with bacteria and then killing or reducing that bacteria in the machine,” Schoch said. “They have access to all those creepy, crawly things that will do you in.”

Although nothing can ever be a 100 percent guarantee against food-borne illnesses, Marks said this technology will be about 99 percent effective. Even though the new technology is effective, he said it doesn’t mean other traditional methods shouldn’t be used.

“Just because you irradiate doesn’t mean you quit washing,” he said.

Schoch said within the past week, Rayfresh has received calls from Peru, Malaysia and other places around the world interested in the technology.

“There’s a tremendous need for this kind of a machine that allows food processors to do this in their facility rather than ship it out and haul it back,” Schoch said.

Marks said one of the biggest obstacles to irradiating food is consumer concerns about its safety.

“It’s consumer perception. You tell a consumer that you’re going to irradiate your food and many consumers would go, ‘Whoa,’” he said. “This does not make your food radioactive.”