Ordinary Banana

as a child i used to wonder what exactly "Sterile (unless package is damaged or open)" meant and how that was achieved but now i know; manufacturers of medical supplies/devices irradiate *packaged products* with shit-tons of ionising radiation (electron beam, X-ray, or gamma ray)

now i'm concerned that in principle, that marking is at least briefly a lie

what if they escape?! has anyone made a movie about this thrilling disaster scenario yet

there's actually little stickers you tape to each pallet that change colour when exposed to radiation so you don't mix up non-sterilised and sterilised goods, also there's "spore strips" with radiation-resistant bacteria spores that you can stick in the box and later incubate

this is very neat

it's *staggering* how much modern medical industry depends on ethylene oxide and radiation sterilisation (which can also be done with gamma rays, literally with chunks of cobalt-60 that are hoisted out of a deep pit of water and held in the air, right next to pallets of goods)