Artificial environmental radionuclides in Europe and methods of lowering their foodstuff contamination - a review

This review discusses the consequences of the food chain contamination with radionuclides, especially focusing on the radiocaesium impact after the Chernobyl nuclear accident. In particular, the Cs-137 isotope still represents a risk. Until present it is still detectable in the meat of game animals, especially in wild boar, but also in elk and reindeer. Although the occurrence of highly contaminated foods in most of Europe is currently limited, along the German-Czech border (the Sumava Region) the activity concentration of the Cs-137 isotope in the meat of wild boar exceeds the acceptable limit several times. Additionally, the article describes simple processing technologies (cooking, pickling etc.) that lead to reduction of radionuclides in contaminated food.