The Radura is the international symbol indicating a food product has been irradiated. The Radura is usually green and resembles a plant in circle. The top half of the circle is dashed. Graphical details and colours vary between countries. Meaning of the word "Radura" The word "Radura" is derived from radurization, in itself a portmanteau combining the initial letters of the word "radiation" with the stem of "durus", the Latin word for hard, lasting. History The inventors of the symbol Radura - knowing this proposal for a new terminology - came from the former Pilot Plant for Food Irradiation, Wageningen, Netherlands, which was the nucleus for the later Gammaster today known as Isotron. The director at the time, R.M. Ulmann, introduced this symbol to the international community. Ulmann in his lecture also provided the interpretation of this symbol: denoting food - as an agricultural product - i.e., a plant (dot and two leaves) in a closed package (the circle) - irradiated from top through the package by penetrating ionizing rays (the breaks in the upper part of the circle). The Radura was originally used in the 1960s exclusively by a pilot plant for food irradiation in Wageningen, Netherlands that owned the copyright. Jan Leemhorst, then president of Gammaster, untiringly propagated the use of this logo internationally. The use of the logo was permitted to everybody adhering to the same rules of quality. The symbol was also widely used by Atomic Energy of South Africa, including the labelling by the term 'radurized' instead of irradiated. By his intervention, the new logo was also included in the Codex Alimentarius Standard on irradiated food as an option to label irradiated food. Today it is found in the Codex Alimentarius Standard on Labelling of Prepacked Food. Usage The symbol Radura was originally used as a symbol of quality for food processed by ionizing radiation. The Dutch pilot plant used the logo as an identification of irradiated products and as a promotion tool for a high quality product with extended shelf life. In supermarkets where the irradiated mushrooms were on sale the logo was dominantly shown and buyers received a leaflet with information about the process and the advantages of the treated products. In clearances for other products granted by the Dutch authorities at later dates, application of the logo on the product or a clearly visible logo near treated bulk product was even demanded.