Radiation in our food

February 14, 2003

Health Sciences Institute e-Alert

February 10, 2003

**************************************************************

Dear Member,

After sending you the e-Alert last week about irradiated beef

( " Don't Beam Me Up " 2/4/03), I came across a news item

announcing that a popular supermarket chain began selling

irradiated ground beef on February 2nd in six mid-Atlantic

states, including Maryland, where I live. These stores are

among some 4,000 nationwide that currently sell irradiated

beef.

This alone would be unsettling enough. But in response to

that e-Alert, I received a reply from HSI Panelist Jon Barron

with additional information about the irradiation process

that I guarantee will make you think twice the next time you

stop off at your grocery to buy meat products.

-----------------------------

Who let the nutrients out?

-----------------------------

To briefly recap: Irradiation is a process by which a food

product is exposed to extremely high doses of radiation to

kill bacteria, parasites and funguses that may cause spoilage

or disease. And if that were all irradiation did, that would

be fine. But as we'll see, there's much more to it than that.

Jon begins by describing the process in more detail: " Food is

exposed to 'hard' irradiation, usually gamma rays from a

source like cobalt-80, in doses of 100,000 to 3,000,000 rads.

To give you a sense of how high a dose this is, understand

that a dose of just 10,000 rads will totally destroy any

living tissue. "

As HSI Panelist Allan Spreen, M. D., made clear last week, an

abundance of nutrients are also eliminated by this process.

Jon agrees, and says, " as much as 70% of the Vitamin A, B1

and B2 in irradiated milk is destroyed, and about 30% of

Vitamin C. " Unfortunately, irradiation also accelerates the

growth of aspergillus mold, " which produces the most potent

natural carcinogens known to man, called aflatoxins. "

I wish I could say that's the worst of it - but we're just

getting started.

-----------------------------

A radiotoxin by any other name...

-----------------------------

Processing food with the extremely high levels of gamma rays

described above results in the creation of some very

dangerous molecules, about which Jon gives this interesting

but frightening background: " They were originally

called 'radiotoxins' by Russian researchers. Since that word

would be frightening to American consumers, the FDA came up

with a couple of 'softer' terms. They call them 'known

radiolytic products' to describe the molecules that are

created such as formaldehyde and benzene (known carcinogens),

and as for those chemical molecules created by irradiation

and that have never before been seen by man, the FDA came up

with the equally soft 'unique radiolytic products.' "

Long before the FDA started assigning more palatable terms

for these very unappetizing results, it had already reviewed

more than 400 studies about the irradiation process. But Jon

tells us where that review process fell woefully short: " They

accepted 226 studies for further review. They then narrowed

their criteria and selected only 69 for in-depth review. Of

these, the FDA itself reported that 32 of the 69 showed

adverse effects, and 37 showed safety problems. Then without

explanation, they eliminated all but 5 of the 69 (including

every negative study) and said they would base their decision

on those 5 alone.

" In the FDA's final report approving food radiation, they

wrote that when up to 35% of the lab-animal diet was

radiated, feeding studies had to be terminated because of

premature mortality or morbidity. " And in one test at the

Medical College of Virginia, rats fed irradiated beef " died

of hemorrhagic syndrome in 34 days. "

-----------------------------

Running from the radura

-----------------------------

According to Jon, " Foods already approved for irradiation

include: fruits, vegetables, wheat, flour, herbs, spices,

nuts, seeds, peas, pork, and chicken. " And to that we can add

ground beef - now in a supermarket in my neighborhood, and

very likely in yours as well.

If you don't like the idea of irradiated food (and at this

point I can't imagine how anyone possibly could), you can

look for a symbol called the " radura " which is required on

the packaging of irradiated foods. The radura is a green

circle (broken into four segments at the top of the circle),

enclosing a flower image represented by a large green dot

with two petals below the dot.

But even if you avoid products marked with the radura, you're

still not in the clear. As Jon explains, " The FDA requires a

label stating a food has been radiated if, and only if, it

was radiated as a 'whole food' and then is sold unchanged.

But, if you process it in any way, if you add any other

ingredients to it, it no longer requires a label stating that

it (or any of its ingredients) were irradiated. To put it

simply, an irradiated orange would require a label;

irradiated orange juice would not. "

-----------------------------

An uncomfortable level of comfort

-----------------------------

But even if people see the radura on a package of ground

beef, a bag of Brazil nuts, or a sticker on an apple - do

they know what its significance is? And worse, do they have

any idea of the risks? By and large, my guess is " no. " In a

report from Reuters last December, a survey conducted by the

National Cattlemen's Beef Association found that almost half

of Americans say they would feel comfortable purchasing

irradiated meat. This response was 10 percent higher than it

had been to the same question on a similar nationwide survey

earlier in the year.

In other words, people are apparently becoming comfortable

with the idea of irradiated food. And it seems they'll have

ample opportunity to buy it. SureBeam Corporation (the

largest provider of irradiation technology in the U. S.) plans

to process more than 300 million pounds of beef this year.

Last year they processed only 15 million pounds.

Feel free to forward this e-Alert to friends and relatives.

Help us spread the word that this idea, whose time has

apparently come, is not a good idea, although it looks like

it's probably here to stay. So it may be the best that we can

do to avoid irradiated foods by looking for the odd green

flower.

My thanks to Jon Barron for his exhaustive profile of this

subject. Jon has researched and written extensively about

alternative medicine, nutrition, and herbal remedies for

almost thirty years. For more information about Jon and his

work, visit his web site at jonbarron. com.

March 10, 2003

Dear Elaine,

This is an excellent article on irradiation and worth repeating in its entirety.

Irradiation as well as Microwaves, change the actual atomic structure of the food so that truly, it is no longer food.

Irradiated food also has the ability to kill off the good bacteria in our gastrointestinal tract which is necessary to help us digest and assimilate the nutrients. Microwaves and Irradiation are both a total No - No!!!

I am not impressed with Jon Barron's products as he uses such things as Progesterone and Testosterone creams. These things, even if they come from natural sources create a bandaid effect. The correct Naturopathic, herbal approach is to balance the hormones of the individual, so that his or her own body produces its own hormones naturally.

Love,

Doc

Ian "Doc" Shillington N.D.505-772-5889Dr.IanShillington

-

Elaine

*§ @y ; § Paranormal_Research@y

Friday, February 14, 2003 1:46 PM

[herbal remedies] Radiation in our food

Health Sciences Institute e-AlertFebruary 10, 2003**************************************************************Dear Member,After sending you the e-Alert last week about irradiated beef("Don't Beam Me Up" 2/4/03), I came across a news itemannouncing that a popular supermarket chain began sellingirradiated ground beef on February 2nd in six mid-Atlanticstates, including Maryland, where I live. These stores areamong some 4,000 nationwide that currently sell irradiatedbeef.This alone would be unsettling enough. But in response tothat e-Alert, I received a reply from HSI Panelist Jon Barronwith additional information about the irradiation processthat I guarantee will make you think twice the next time youstop off at your grocery to buy meat products.-----------------------------Who let the nutrients out?-----------------------------To briefly recap: Irradiation is a process by which a foodproduct is exposed to extremely high doses of radiation tokill bacteria, parasites and funguses that may cause spoilageor disease. And if that were all irradiation did, that wouldbe fine. But as we'll see, there's much more to it than that.Jon begins by describing the process in more detail: "Food isexposed to 'hard' irradiation, usually gamma rays from asource like cobalt-80, in doses of 100,000 to 3,000,000 rads.To give you a sense of how high a dose this is, understandthat a dose of just 10,000 rads will totally destroy anyliving tissue."As HSI Panelist Allan Spreen, M. D., made clear last week, anabundance of nutrients are also eliminated by this process.Jon agrees, and says, "as much as 70% of the Vitamin A, B1and B2 in irradiated milk is destroyed, and about 30% ofVitamin C." Unfortunately, irradiation also accelerates thegrowth of aspergillus mold, "which produces the most potentnatural carcinogens known to man, called aflatoxins."I wish I could say that's the worst of it - but we're justgetting started.-----------------------------A radiotoxin by any other name...-----------------------------Processing food with the extremely high levels of gamma raysdescribed above results in the creation of some verydangerous molecules, about which Jon gives this interestingbut frightening background: "They were originallycalled 'radiotoxins' by Russian researchers. Since that wordwould be frightening to American consumers, the FDA came upwith a couple of 'softer' terms. They call them 'knownradiolytic products' to describe the molecules that arecreated such as formaldehyde and benzene (known carcinogens),and as for those chemical molecules created by irradiationand that have never before been seen by man, the FDA came upwith the equally soft 'unique radiolytic products.'"Long before the FDA started assigning more palatable termsfor these very unappetizing results, it had already reviewedmore than 400 studies about the irradiation process. But Jontells us where that review process fell woefully short: "Theyaccepted 226 studies for further review. They then narrowedtheir criteria and selected only 69 for in-depth review. Ofthese, the FDA itself reported that 32 of the 69 showedadverse effects, and 37 showed safety problems. Then withoutexplanation, they eliminated all but 5 of the 69 (includingevery negative study) and said they would base their decisionon those 5 alone."In the FDA's final report approving food radiation, theywrote that when up to 35% of the lab-animal diet wasradiated, feeding studies had to be terminated because ofpremature mortality or morbidity." And in one test at theMedical College of Virginia, rats fed irradiated beef "diedof hemorrhagic syndrome in 34 days."-----------------------------Running from the radura-----------------------------According to Jon, "Foods already approved for irradiationinclude: fruits, vegetables, wheat, flour, herbs, spices,nuts, seeds, peas, pork, and chicken." And to that we can addground beef - now in a supermarket in my neighborhood, andvery likely in yours as well.If you don't like the idea of irradiated food (and at thispoint I can't imagine how anyone possibly could), you canlook for a symbol called the "radura" which is required onthe packaging of irradiated foods. The radura is a greencircle (broken into four segments at the top of the circle),enclosing a flower image represented by a large green dotwith two petals below the dot.But even if you avoid products marked with the radura, you'restill not in the clear. As Jon explains, "The FDA requires alabel stating a food has been radiated if, and only if, itwas radiated as a 'whole food' and then is sold unchanged.But, if you process it in any way, if you add any otheringredients to it, it no longer requires a label stating thatit (or any of its ingredients) were irradiated. To put itsimply, an irradiated orange would require a label;irradiated orange juice would not."-----------------------------An uncomfortable level of comfort-----------------------------But even if people see the radura on a package of groundbeef, a bag of Brazil nuts, or a sticker on an apple - dothey know what its significance is? And worse, do they haveany idea of the risks? By and large, my guess is "no." In areport from Reuters last December, a survey conducted by theNational Cattlemen's Beef Association found that almost halfof Americans say they would feel comfortable purchasingirradiated meat. This response was 10 percent higher than ithad been to the same question on a similar nationwide surveyearlier in the year.In other words, people are apparently becoming comfortablewith the idea of irradiated food. And it seems they'll haveample opportunity to buy it. SureBeam Corporation (thelargest provider of irradiation technology in the U. S.) plansto process more than 300 million pounds of beef this year.Last year they processed only 15 million pounds.Feel free to forward this e-Alert to friends and relatives.Help us spread the word that this idea, whose time hasapparently come, is not a good idea, although it looks likeit's probably here to stay. So it may be the best that we cando to avoid irradiated foods by looking for the odd greenflower.