Food Irradiation Information

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Misty L. Trepke

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Food Irradiation Information

JoAnn Guest

Nov 20, 2004 00:25 PST

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Food Irradiation Information

http://www.irradiation.com/food.htm

 

The food safety issue is a guise. The real issues are the

multi-national corporations making billions more by extending shelf

life of food, the millions the processors would save by not having

to " clean up their acts " , and our government wanting to " dump "

radioactive waste.

 

Expert Affidavit on Safety of Irradiated Food (link)

 

In the 1960s, the FDA rescinded its original approval of food

irradiation because of the carcinogens created in the process.

 

Early research by the U.S. Army, funded by the U.S. Department of

Defense, resulted in the Food and Drug Administration s (FDA) 1963

approval of irradiation of can-packed bacon. But the regulation

permitting bacon irradiation was withdrawn in 1968 when the FDA

decided that the research on which it had based its approval was

flawed. The agency found that there were significant adverse health

effects in animals fed irradiated bacon, including decreases in the

survival rates of weaned young and greater losses of young animals

eating irradiated bacon.

 

A New Jersey Medical School report says that animals fed irradiated

food lost weight and had miscarriages, and that irradiation damages

vitamins in food.

 

In MEAT AND POULTRY, an industry periodical, the editors said that

" irradiation is the wrong hope " and " that the industry needed to

clean up its act and get the inspectors back on the side of

consumers "

 

From Poultry Times XXKVm(6), p. 22, March 25, 1991 " Food irradiation

cannot, nor is it intended to, replace proper food sanitation,

packaging, storage and preparation " .

 

Steven Bjerklie, former editor of Meat & Poultry, thinks irradiation

will reduce pressure on the meatpacking industry to clean up its

act. " I don't want to be served irradiated feces along with my

meat, " he says.

 

Q. What is food irradiation?

 

A. A process where food is exposed to high levels of radiation in

order disrupt the DNA of the bacteria so that it cannot reproduce,

thus extending shelf life.

 

Q. How is food irradiated?

 

A. Pallets of food move into an irradiation chamber. Once inside the

chamber, a rack of radioactive byproduct is elevated from a pool of

water, bombarding the food with irradiation. Afterward, the

irradiated food is moved to a storage area.

 

Q. Where do they irradiate food?

 

A. Food irradiation plants are small nuclear facilities usually with

walls of concrete six feet thick.

 

Q. Are these radioactive facilities safe?

 

A. That depends on who you ask. There are the issues of security

(the nuclear waste is very dangerous), waste disposal, engineering

safety, transport of radioactive material, production of new

isotopes, and handling. A big concern is the introduction of highly

complex electromagnetic and nuclear technology into processing

plants and slaughterhouses with a largely illiterate, non-English-

speaking workforce.

 

Q. How much radiation does the food receive?

 

A. For most meat, the intention is 300,000 RADS which is the

equivalent of 3 million chest X-rays.

 

Q. Is food irradiation necessary?

 

A. According to an article in THE BULLETIN OF THE ATOMIC SCIENTISTS,

proponents of irradiation " have not produced any projections of the

actual economic, or other, benefits of longer shelf life, especially

in a developed country that has an abundant food supply " . Regarding

meat infected with e-coli or salmonella, if the meat processors

would place health above dollars, there would be no contamination

issues.

 

Q. Does food irradiation make food radioactive?

 

A. Not when it is done correctly.

 

Q. If food is not made radioactive, then why is it not safe?

 

A. When food is irradiated the radiation breaks up the molecular

structure of the food and creates a whole new set of chemicals known

as " unique radiolytic products " (URPs). These URPs include benzene,

formaldehyde and a host of known mutagens and carcinogens.

Irradiation kills vitamins, friendly bacteria and enzymes,

effectively rendering the food " dead " and therefore useless to your

body. In addition, some of the friendly bacteria that is killed

produces odors indicating spoilage and some friendly bacteria

naturally control the growth of harmful bacteria.

 

Q. Is there a way to test to see if food has been irradiated?

 

A. Yes. Because the damage done to the food is detectable.

 

Q. Have there been studies of the health consequences of food

irradiation?

 

A. Yes, hundreds. However the FDA only sites 5 of those studies in

their push to irradiate, and some of those studies have since been

proven flawed. Short term studies were done on children in India,

and blood tests showed chromosomal damage to the children after 6

weeks. Short term tests were done on dogs using irradiated beef; the

dogs ended up with enlarged spleens and swollen lymph nodes. Other

studies, including those done under contract for the U.S. Government

indicate the possibility of immunotoxicity, kidney disease, cardiac

thrombus, testicular damage and fibroplasia.

 

Q. Why does the FDA allow irradiation?

 

This is a very complicated issue. In the beginning, food irradiation

was part of the " ATOMS FOR PEACE " program which looked for ways to

get rid of nuclear waste. The main push was made by the

International Atomic Energy Agency and the Atomic Energy Commission.

In addition, the Dept. of Energy (DOE) which wants to get rid of the

radioactive waste Cesium 137, paid companies to take this waste.

Those companies then lobbied congress so they could irradiate food.

Cobalt 60 is currently the radioactive source for food irradiation,

but the DOE hopes that with the proposed expansion of food

irradiation, the Cobalt 60, which is in limited supply will run out,

and Cesium 137 will again be used.

 

Next you have some of the large meat processors (three corporations

control 80% of the market) which instead of cleaning up their

production system, would rather irradiate, as it is cheaper. The

irradiation companies lobby the processors, the processors lobby

congress and the FDA (which has on its board former and future

executive employees of the food processing and nuclear companies).

The FDA then also lobbies congress. In addition, with all of the

news about E. coli and salmonella, our uninformed congressmen think

they are " protecting " the food supply. In addition, the multi-

national food processing companies stand to make billions by

extending the shelf life of some foods.

 

Q. Why can't government food inspectors force the meat processors to

produce disease free meat?

 

A. During the last 12 years, the Dept. of Agriculture has cut over

12,000 meat inspector jobs, and at the same time, the speed at which

meat passes by the inspectors has become incredible. In some

processing plants, inspectors are supposed to inspect beef carcasses

that are being processed at 5 per minute or chicken carcasses that

pass by them at a rate of 90 per minute! It is an impossible task.

The only answer is for the producers to slow down the production

lines so the food can be processed in a safe manner.

 

Q. I have heard that people in other countries can't get enough of

irradiated foods?

 

A. The irradiation industry likes to say that, however the people of

Europe are being told that Americans are in love with food

irradiation and that we can't get enough. It is pure dis-

information!. China, some of the ex-USSR countries and South Africa

are the big users of food irradiation. Do we want to follow in their

foot steps?

 

Q. Is the entire food industry for irradiation?

 

A. No. As a matter of fact, in an article in MEAT AND POULTRY

MAGAZINE, an industry periodical, the editors said that " irradiation

is the wrong hope " and " that the industry needed to clean up its act

and get the inspectors back on the side of consumers " .

 

Q. Are there alternatives?

 

A. Yes. The primary goal would be to have a clean area where the

meat would be processed, however, as a back-up there are different

methods of sterilization, including ozone.

 

Oh, by the way, you can order the following bumper sticker from the

American Nuclear Society (a group of scientists who work for

corporations, universities and various governments) who for the most

part say they are pro-food irradiation (at least in public they say

so, how else would they keep their jobs?)

 

" I'M NATURALLY RADIOACTIVE...YOU ARE TOO! "

 

pure-food.com & irradiation.com

_________________

 

JoAnn Guest

mrsjo-