Another step forward in preser vation of foods through irradiation has been announced by Oregon State college agriculture chemists. Chemists E. C. Bubl and J. S. Butts report that four generations of rats were fed a 60 percent diet of irradiated meat over a two year period with no harmful effects. The research project, one of several in the country, is for the department of defense. The pri mary objective of the long-range work is to supply troops with fresh meats and other foods that require sterilization through canning or freezing. Should commerical-scale irradi ation develop, fresh meats and other food could be easily trans ported to troops in distant parts of the world, particularly in the trop ics where processing by freezing is costly. Test rats were fed on irradia tion-preserved beef organs—kidney, heart, brain, and tripe —that was ground, mixed, and sealed in cans. Half the cans were subjected to high intensity gamma irradiation, the other half were frozen for preservation. Rats on the treated diet grew as well and produced as many as those on the non-irradi ated diet. — Door Holder _

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