One Health approach to radionuclides in milk and meat: Transfer mechanisms, processing effects, regulatory limits, and mitigation strategies

Background and Aim: Radionuclide contamination of milk and meat remains an important food safety and public health concern because environmental contamination, livestock production, food processing, and human exposure are closely interconnected. Recent advances have improved understanding of radionuclide transfer in livestock systems, yet information on transfer mechanisms, processing effects, regulatory standards, monitoring programs, and mitigation strategies remains fragmented. This review integrates recent evidence (2020–2026) within a One Health framework to provide a comprehensive overview of radionuclide behavior in milk and meat and its implications for food safety. The review summarizes the biological and environmental factors governing radionuclide transfer from contaminated soil and feed into animal products, highlighting the influence of radionuclide characteristics, animal species, diet, physiological status, production systems, and environmental conditions. Radiocaesium and radiostrontium remain the principal radionuclides contributing to long term contamination, whereas radioiodine is primarily associated with the early post-release period. Transuranic elements generally exhibit minimal transfer to edible animal products. The review also discusses the effects of dairy and meat processing, demonstrating that processing generally redistributes rather than eliminates radionuclides, with the magnitude of reduction depending on radionuclide properties and processing methods. Current monitoring programs indicate that most milk and meat comply with national and international regulatory limits, although differences in regulatory approaches, monitoring strategies, and analytical methods remain among countries. Farm-level interventions, including clean feeding, mineral supplementation, selective sorbents, and appropriate pasture management, are consistently identified as the most effective measures for reducing radionuclide transfer, while food processing and consumer practices provide additional reductions in dietary exposure. Overall, this review highlights the importance of integrating environmental monitoring, livestock management, food processing, and regulatory surveillance within a One Health framework to strengthen radiological safety of milk and meat. Future research should prioritize harmonized monitoring, probabilistic transfer assessment, improved data for underrepresented radionuclides and production systems, and internationally coordinated strategies to enhance preparedness and protect public health. Keywords: animal products, food processing, milk, One Health, radiological safety, radionuclides, transfer mechanisms, veterinary public health.