Validation of a label dosimeter for food irradiation applications by subjective and objective means

A new label dosimeter was tested for reliability and reproducibility. For the nominal absorbed dose values of 70, 125, and 300 Gy a sharp transition from bright red to black occurs. This was confirmed by instrumental tri-chromatic measurement of colour and by visual judgement in triangle and ranking tests. As for its dosimetric properties, the device proved suitable for the intended purpose as a label dosimeter. The question as to whether or not any dose indication specific only to the outside of an irradiated unit is sufficiently informative about the minimum dose somewhere inside the consignment remains to be resolved.