Jan 23rd, 2026
3 mins
The UK Government have recently published their yearly report on Radioactivity in Food and the Environment (RIFE). This report brings together all the results of monitoring of radioactivity in food and the environment by the RIFE partners (Environment Agency, Food Standards Agency, Food Standards Scotland, Natural Resources Wales, Northern Ireland Environment Agency and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency).
Radioactivity is all around us. It occurs naturally in the earth’s crust, and it can be found in the food we eat, the water we drink, as well as the air we breathe. We are also exposed to artificial sources of radioactivity, such as in medical applications used in hospitals and nuclear power. It is a legal requirement to ensure that the radiation exposure from artificial radioactivity, from all sources, is kept as low as reasonably achievable and within the annual 1 millisievert (mSv) per year limit to protect the public and the environment.
The report details exposure levels across various sites and areas in the UK but reveals that, exposure to the public from all sources of artificial radioactivity in food and the environment was low and well within the legal limit.
Overall, between 2023 and 2024 there were no significant changes to the radioactivity measured in food and the environment.
You can read the report in full here
