Epithermal neutron activation analysis of food

Food samples were irradiated with thermal and epithermal neutrons. The average ratios of thermal to epithermal activity were determined for⁸⁰Br,⁴⁹Ca,³⁸Cl,^60mCo,⁴²K,²⁷Mg,⁵⁶Mn,²⁴Na, and^86mRB. They were equal to 2.1, 26, 24, 6.6, 19, 16, 11, 23 and 1.9, respectively. Then, 57 food samples were analyzed by epithermal neutron activation analysis for Br and Rb. The concentrations (in ppm) of Br and Rb were in asparagus (2) 2.3, 11.5; beets (3) 0.5, 0.8; beef (3) 1.7, 3.6; cabbage (5) 0.5, 10.8; carrot (3) 0.2, 3.7; chicken (3) 0.6, 4.4; chocolate (7) 11.1, 18.7; egg (3) 0.9, 1.9; french bean (3) 0.3, 1.0; goose (2) 1.3, 9.3; lettuce (2) 0.9, 1.7; pork (1) 1.5, 4.4; potato (7) 1.0, 1.2; sausage (3) 0.6, 4.0; strawberry jam (3) 0.4, 1.4; tomato (1) 13.5, 14.6; turkey (3) 1.2, 4.9. respectively. The number of samples analyzed is indicated in parentheses.