Food irradiation economies of scale in a developing country context

Abstract: A technical paper for food processing technologists discusses varies economic aspects of the use of food irradiation in developingcountries, and presents estimates of average unit costs for 5 sizes of cobalt-60 irraditors for treating food products with 1 of 4 different radiation dose levels. Since this technology demonstrates economics of scale that exhibit decreasing unit costs with increasing irradiator size, economics of scale are quite pronounced for small irradiators, indicating that agricultural firms processing less than 15 millon kg/year will not be able to achieve the lower costs attainable with large irradiators. The analysis indicates, however, that potential scale economics become less important at processing volumes exceeding 31.5 millon kg/year. The analysis also shows that the economics of scale should be less dramatic fordeveloping countries due to lower labor costs in such countries. Data are appended in tabular and graphical format. The assumptions of this economic impact assessment model are discussed.