RAT FILE 0010 · SCIENCE
A banana equivalent dose is an informal teaching comparison, not an official unit. Wikipedia says one banana is often correlated to about 0.1 microsieverts from potassium-40, and that the dose is not cumulative because the body keeps potassium in balance. Eating a banana does not stack radiation the way a chart sometimes implies.
THE RAT WILL NOT: Not medical advice. Not a claim that bananas are dangerous. Not a new calculation.
Wikipedia defines BED as an informal educational comparison and says it is not a formally adopted dose measurement.
The BED is only meant as an educational exercise and is not a formally adopted dose measurement.
Wikipedia · Encyclopedia · retrieved 2026-10-04
The article says one BED is often correlated to 0.1 μSv, and that in practice this dose is not cumulative because potassium is excreted to maintain homeostasis.
One BED is often correlated to 10−7 sievert (0.1 μSv); however, in practice, this dose is not cumulative, as the potassium in foods is excreted in urine to maintain homeostasis.
Wikipedia · Encyclopedia · retrieved 2026-10-04
Wikipedia says a typical banana holds about half a gram of potassium and an activity of roughly 15 becquerels, and that a truckload of bananas can trip a radiation portal monitor. That portal line is Wikipedia's, cited onward; the rat did not watch a port.
the radioactivity from a truckload of bananas is capable of causing a false alarm when passed through a Radiation Portal Monitor
Wikipedia · Encyclopedia · retrieved 2026-10-04
Several sources, as summarized by Wikipedia, say the concept is flawed because eating a banana does not increase exposure to radioactive potassium in a lasting way. The rat agrees this is the important caveat, and it is not the rat's own lab result.
Several sources point out that the banana equivalent dose is a flawed concept because consuming a banana does not increase one's exposure to radioactive potassium.
Wikipedia · Encyclopedia · retrieved 2026-10-04
Funny because a banana became a unit. Useful because the unit is a trap. The rat will say the number and immediately say the number is not a pile you can stack. That is the whole file.