Is it okay to eat food that has been through airport x-ray scanners?

[laura124]

I'm going on a trip and I'm having anxiety about going through security.  I'm bringing healthy snacks like organic raw nuts and some other things and now I'm paranoid that when I put my bag through the x-ray scanner it will infect my snacks with radiation that could make me sick.  I'm also worried that they will make me go through a whole body scanner.

I've had a lot of anxiety since Thanksgiving and have had chest pressure/pain along with a strange sensation like my esophagus is swollen which gives me a tickle in my throat with a cough.  It's weird but it's really been depressing me.  Now, I'm taking this trip and my husband isn't going because he has to work so I'm going with my 19 year old daughter and her two friends and my 18 year old son and his friend and I will basically not have any adult companionship.  I'm getting nervous about the whole trip. UGH

[Mir]

I ran a quick search and it'll be just fine. The FDA says 'There are no known adverse effects from eating food, drinking beverages, using medicine, or applying cosmetics that have been irradiated by a cabinet x ray system used for security screening.'. So, you'll be okay to eat anything your bring.

[sassparella]

Yes a Mir said it's perfectly safe, I did a search for you too :)

[laura124]

Thank you!!

[SpeanBrout]

This is a bit old, but I thought I'd throw in my thoughts as a physicist. While x-rays can be dangerous because they are "ionizing radiation", they can't make something radioactive. The damage that x-rays do to things occur when they interact with the electrons in the matter and kick them around. Because they just kick electrons around, those x-ray scans can't induce radiation in objects, especially at the energy levels they run those machines at.

It's probably good that you bring some healthy snacks too, so you don't have to eat some junk from a machine or a store at the airport.