Food Irradiation Information

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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In the 1960s, the FDA rescinded its original approval of food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permitting bacon irradiation was withdrawn in 1968 when the FDA decided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-

DietaryTi-

www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Genes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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