The additive dose method for dose estimation in irradiated oregano by thermoluminescence technique

The ionizing radiation treatment of food is nowadays a worldwide recognized tool for food preservation, provided that proper and validated identification methods are available and used. The thermoluminescence (TL) technique is one of the physical methods recommended by the European Committee for Standardization to distinguish irradiated from not irradiated samples, for food containing silicate minerals as contaminants, such as spices and aromatic herbs, which are among the most frequently irradiated foods. The experimental results presented in this work show that, at least up to the highest tested doses (2 kGy), it is possible to set up a procedure to estimate the actual dose in the irradiated product, using TL and the additive dose method, even after months of storage.