Tag: Natural radiation

An average adult contains approximately 4,000 becquerels of naturally occurring potassium-40 in their body at any given time. The answer to what food has the most potassium-40 is any food that is highest in total potassium, as the radioactive isotope is a fixed percentage of all potassium.

An average person is exposed to significantly more radiation from daily background sources like soil and cosmic rays than from the food they eat. This sheds light on the common misconception about how many bananas for radiation it takes to be dangerous, revealing it to be a harmless exaggeration.

While all foods contain some level of natural radiation due to elements like potassium-40, the question of what foods are radioactive to avoid largely pertains to contamination following nuclear events. In these rare emergencies, consuming certain outdoor-grown foods becomes a risk for internal radiation exposure.