In Recent Years the Irradiation of Food to Reduce Bacteria

Essay

In recent years the irradiation of food to reduce bacteria and preserve the food longer has become more common. A company that performs this service has developed four different methods of irradiating food. To determine which is best, it conducts an experiment where different foods are irradiated and the bacteria count is measured. As part of the experiment the following foods are irradiated: beef, chicken, turkey, eggs, and milk. The results are shown below. Can the company infer at the 1% significance level that differences in the bacteria count exist among the four irradiation methods? $$\begin{array} { | l | c | c | c | c | } \hline & & { \text { Bacteria count } } \\\hline \text { Food } & \text { Method 1 } & \text { Method 2 } & \text { Method 3 } & \text { Method 4 } \\\hline \text { Beef } & 47 & 53 & 36 & 68 \\\hline \text { Chicken } & 53 & 61 & 48 & 75 \\\hline \text { Turkey } & 68 & 85 & 55 & 45 \\\hline \text { Eggs } & 25 & 24 & 20 & 27 \\\hline \text { Milk } & 44 & 48 & 38 & 46 \\\hline\end{array}$$