Irradiation May Be Overrated
The latest attempt to bring back food irradiation is not surprising ["Irradiation Almost Erases Risk of Food Poisoning," usnews.com].
Unfortunately, it is just the same old sales pitch about a quick fix for food safety problems that require a more comprehensive approach. The article fails to note that irradiation is simply not practical. The expense of shipping fresh vegetables with short shelf lives to distant irradiation facilities would be astronomical. Not to mention the question of whether consumers even want to eat irradiated lettuce. Previous test markets of other irradiated foods, especially ground beef, have failed miserably. Consumers trying to eat more vegetables for their health will likely be turned off by a treatment that exposes food to high doses of ionizing radiation and can deplete vitamins and damage texture. The issue of preventing future food borne illness from vegetables is critically important. And it deserves a much more serious discussion than just dusting off a failed technology like irradiation.
Wenonah Hauter
Food & Water Watch
Via e-mail
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Re: Overrated
I've done some research on this myself - Wenonah, I was looking into your organization's website for some commentary from "the opposition" - but I feel I must tell you that the majority of your sources were either out of date or otherwise misconstrued.
First, with regard to the "distant facilities" argument: your website claims that there are only two facilities in the continental United States in which to process food. This is simply untrue - as long as 5 years ago, the United States laid claim to more than 50 such irradiation facilities. Not all are geared towards agriculture but it is a far cry from the number that you cited.
Second, in destroying bacterial and insect pests, the produce is better preserved than with simple washing and/or heat pasteurization techniques (which have been proven more harmful, incidentally, to the texture and flavor of vegetation). So long as they're properly cooled on the production chain, there is little, if any, degradation to quality.
Third, irradiation has been tested in double-blind studies by representatives from UC-Davis - consumers couldn't tell the difference in flavor and texture between irradiated and "traditionally" sanitized vegetables.
Fourth, I've not heard anyone claim that Irradiation is a miracle cure. As with any control method, Irradiation should be used in conjunction with traditional methods of good agricultural practice, and most importantly, WASHING the vegetation before serving it. Even spokesmen for the FDA have stressed this (Sebastian Cianci among others)
Fifth: market testing hasn't "failed miserably" - where you came up with this terminology I've no idea - Produce marketed in a test in Lyon, France was priced 30% above baseline cost, and sold very well due to the improved perceived safety of the product. Furthermore, surveys conducted saw that only 9% of clients WOULDN'T consume irradiated product.
At present moment, more than 50 countries around the world use irradiation for the treatment of not only meat products and spices, but fruits and vegetables with no ill effects to their sales margins.
Irradiation has been proven a safe food treatment alternative for decades. The process often requires no radioactivity at all (when performed with electron-beam accelerators). To dismiss it because of NIMBY-fueled hysteria is intellectually dishonest to not only processors and producers but consumers as well.
Food Safety
If we support our local vegetable growers and even grow some of our own vegetables there will be no need to transport them long distances.
Chemical free "organic" vegetables last a lot longer than those subjected to chemicals or irradiation.
In every community area there is land that is unused. Get a co-op going to plant vegetables there. Teach your kids how to grow vegetables. Homegrown vegetables do indeed taste just like they used to when you remember them from your childhood.
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