Can I use a Geiger counter to test food?

Ever since Fukushima I have wondered about the possibility of radioactive food eventually appearing or even growing the US due to fallout. How will know when it happens? Who will tell us?

This brings up the logical question - Can I use a Geiger counter to test food?

For practicable purposes the answer is no.

There is no Geiger counter out there that can reliably test for radiation in food. It is not a question of accuracy.

The problem is that it only takes a very low amount of radioactive contamination to be dangerous if consumed. The radioactivity of the food will almost always be masked by the normal background radiation (which is usually of a non harmful type).

Example:  If containment is .02 uSv/h and the background radiation is .09 uSv/h, the Geiger will detect contamination but you will not see a spike in readings (which will continue to show .09 uSv/h). It would be like looking for a drop of water in a pond.

The exception of course would be if the food was extremely radioactive. If your background environment for example, varies between .09 uSv/h and .14 uSv/h and the food sample consistently spikes it to .20 uSv/h, you know you have something you better get rid of fast.

The only way to reliably distinguish between low contamination and the normal background radiation is in a lab, where food is placed into a container that isolates it from any background interference. That is the only way.

Next comes the question of how much food. A single piece of food most likely will not give you an accurate reading if any at all. You will need a lot of food. This is because it is very possible that the radiation leaves the sample in such a direction as to miss the tube in your device. The bigger the sample, the better the chance of the device picking it up.

This principle is best explained in the video below. It clearly demonstrates why you cannot accurately measure food.:

Testing food with a Geiger counter overview 

Finally you must remember that a Geiger counter only recordes radiation. It does not tell you what type. Take a banana for example. Bananas naturally give off radiation within a small range of 0.10 uSv/h. Yet bananas however or not harmful at all because they give off potassium – 40, which your body eliminates once it reaches a certain level.

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