Irradiated Beef: It's What's For Dinner

[Guest guest]

This is cute... Please read until the very end... I was not sure

if this was a spoof or not...

Comments?

Misty L. Trepke

http://www..com

 

 

Irradiated Beef: It's What's For Dinner

By Judith Gorman, AlterNet

November 15, 2002

 

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=14549

 

Busy working moms like me are always on the lookout for innovative

menu ideas for the family, and that's why I'm so excited about a new

item that's showing up on grocer's shelves.

 

It's irradiated beef, a technological breakthrough that enables

health conscious families like yours and mine to be protected from

the dangers of E.coli, salmonella and listeria. Even if cattle

holding lots are not exactly hygienic, and once in a while beef is

improperly processed or past its expiration date or you eat your

burgers blood rare, you will still be safe from food poisoning.

Because once your beef is irradiated, no living organism can survive.

 

 

Just imagine the fun you'll have preparing irradiated hamburgers,

irradiated chili, spaghetti and irradiated meatballs, and that

all-time family favorite, irradiated kebabs barbecued on the backyard

grill.

 

In fact, it tastes so much like the old familiar burger that you

won't even know you're eating irradiated beef unless you read the

fine print. Last winter, Iowa Senator Tom Harkin inserted last minute

provisions into the Senate farm bill, allowing irradiated beef to be

labeled as " pasteurized, " instead of the Food and Drug

Administration's suggested " Treated By Irradiation " label.

 

Food irradiation has been on the table since 1953, when it was named

one of the " atoms for peace. " According to Food and Water, Inc. of

Walden, Vermont: " The U.S. Department of Energy initially encouraged

food irradiation as part of its Byproduct Utilization Program,

created in the 1970s to promote the commercial use of nuclear

byproducts. Cobalt 60 and Cesium 137 are the radiation sources used

to irradiate food. But Cesium 137 is the only isotope available in

sufficient quantities for large-scale irradiation, and it's also one

of the deadliest. With a half-life of 30 years, Cesium 137 remains

dangerous (i.e., radioactive) for nearly 600 years. "

 

In 1985, pork was approved for irradiation, and in 1986 the FDA

approved irradiation for fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains and

spices. In 1997, the United States passed a law to reduce labeling

requirements for irradiated foods and gave the FDA 60 days to approve

the process.

 

The FDA approved irradiation of meat for " pathogen control " in 1997,

and the USDA approved it in 1999. According to the Center for

Consumer Research, even though irradiation of beef was fast-tracked

through the FDA, " realistically, all safety concerns have been

answered. "

 

Irradiated beef: It's what's for dinner.

 

Who says so? Leading experts and renowned meatheads from all across

this great nation of ours. Like Patrick Boyle, president and CEO of

the American Meat Institute: " This is a victory for consumers and the

red meat industry. I know for a fact that there is sincere interest

on the part of the meat industry processors, retailers, and food

service operators. "

 

Van Amundson of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association: " In order

to maintain the safest food supply in the world, the beef industry

needs the flexibility to use new technologies as they become

available. "

 

And C. Manly Molpus, president of the Grocery Manufacturers of

America: " The decision is good news for consumers. Attention now

should be turned to helping consumers understand the benefits of

irradiation for themselves and their families. "

 

Meatnews.com, the industry bible that provides such special interest

features as " Carnivore Club " and " Agency Hits Back over Haggis, "

hails the introduction of the new SureBeam technology by California's

Brawley Beef, which turns cattle into burgers " using the latest

livestock handling and processing technologies to assure consumers

that they will receive consistent, tender, good tasting and most

importantly, the safest beef products on the market. Much like milk

pasteurization, SureBeam's technology will be employed as a last

layer of safety after a food product has been processed and

packaged. "

 

In fact, the safety of our food supply, and especially the protection

of the health of our growing children is so important to our own

President that more than a year ago the Bush administration proposed

introducing irradiated ground beef into the National School Lunch

Program.

 

According to Dr. Samuel S. Epstein, Professor Emeritus of

Environmental Medicine, University of Illinois School of Public

Health, Chicago: " The government's assertion that irradiated food is

safe for human consumption does not even pass the laugh test.

Exposing America's school children to the hazards of irradiated food

is reckless negligence, compounded by the absence of any warning to

parents.

 

" Irradiated meat is a very different product than natural meat. This

is hardly surprising as the Food and Drug Administration's approved

irradiation dosage of 450,000 rads is approximately 150 million times

greater than that of a chest x-ray. Apart from high levels of

benzene, new chemicals known as 'unique radiolytic products' were

identified in irradiated meat in U.S. Army tests in 1977, and

recognized as carcinogenic. Later tests identified other chemicals

shown to induce genetic toxicity. "

 

For more comprehensive information on the safety of irradiated foods

in particular and the food supply in general, visit

organicconsumers.com, or contact Food and Water, Inc. in Walden,

Vermont. You may just decide to become a vegetarian.

 

=====

Fidyl

Live Simply So That

Others May Simply Live

Yoga-With-Nancy-SoFla/

SignSoFla/

SoFlaVegans/

SoFlaSchools/