FDA OKs Irradiation of Spinach and Lettuce
The US government will now allow food producers to use radiation on lettuce and spinach to kill E. coli and other germs that cause food-borne illness in humans. Irradiation can be an effective means of reducing food-borne bacteria by briefly exposing foods to a radiant energy source like gamma rays or electron beams. Irradiation has been safely used on meat such as beef and poultry for awhile, but food producers have thought that irradiation might leave greens a little wilted.
The FDA, the AMA, WHO and other organizations support irradiation of foods, stating that it is both safe and effective. Since spinach has been linked to several E. coli outbreaks, it makes sense to step up food safety to prevent any more outbreaks. Some consumers don't trust the use of radiation on food, though, seeing it as another scary modification of a healthy food. What do you think -- safe or scary?
Poll:Do you think irradiation of foods is safe?
Photo © Florin Bleiceanu
Comments
Terrible!
It sounds scary to me. Would this irradiation also take place with organic spinach?
My concern is what irradiation does to the vital nutrients within the produce. Our foods are already deficient due to intense commerical agriculture practices. Now we stand to lose even more nutrients. It is a scary world because of the lack of control we have in food choices. I understand the FDA has said irradiated food does not need to be labeled as being irradiated. This is wrong. I want irradiated foods to be labeled as such so I at least have a choice there.
That’s a good point about labeling irradiation. Why not?
I understand many people are concerned about food irradiation, but many years of study prompted by consumer skepticism have shown little to no ill effects from food irradiation. The FDA and other agencies have done numerous studies to determine how nutritional content differs between irradiated and non-irradiated foods and have determined that there is no change.
An earlier post discussed the labeling of irradiated foods, and the FDA does require a labeling for these products, the symbol is called the radura and is shown on the FDA website.
Food irradiation is somewhat common practice in other parts of the world as a safe method of food preservation by killing bacteria.
People have a fear of irradiation because of limited understanding, but all that is happening is the food is being exposed to energy. It is similar to putting food in front of a heater, but at a higher energy.
The FDA has more information on food irradiation on their website, and I recommend starting there for further research into this topic.
Its also important to note that the radiation passes through the food since it is produced by a machine, it does not stay in/on it like a chemical preservative would.
I hope this technology is further developed. Having technology to safely preserve food and prolong its life during transport will be a major aid in helping end starvation in developing parts of the world. This technology can further be applied to treating bacteria in water systems.
While the horrible Hiroshima and Nagasaki portrayals of nuclear energy will forever be burned in our minds, lets not forget the many positive uses of radiation (prime examples being medical diagnosis/treatment and a safe clean renewable energy resource).
Just as an FYI, here is the link for the FDA food irradiation site:
http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/opairrad.html
Thanks for the link, Jonathan.
Susan, I doubt if the nutritional content would be damaged much at all because the irradiation would be very quick. Prolonged heating results in more nutrition loss.
Thanks for your comment!
Shereen
Clueless Newlywed, As far as I know right now, irradiation of organic produce is not allowed.
Thank for the link, Johnathon. I can see how people are frightened of irradiation, but I think the chances of getting sick from contaminated spinach is far and away higher than the risk of getting sick from radiated spinach.
This is a big world and we want lots of food that must is shipped quickly and safely to grocery stores across the world. While I love organic foods and prefer to by locally when I can, it just isn’t practical to expect old methods of sanitation to be sufficient. Thus, I think the trade-off of a very small nutrient loss is worth using the radiation -
irradiated spinach is still an amazingly healthful food. A bigger problem is that too many people are not eating spinach (or other good foods) and eating too much junk.
LABLE IT!!!! AND LABLE IT IN A WAY THAT YOU DON’T NEED A MAGNIFYING GLASS TO SEE IT. CONSUMERS HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW WHAT’S HAPPENING TO THEIR FOOD BEFORE IT GETS TO THEIR PLATES, AND THE PLATES OF THEIR CHILDREN.
The bacteria issue should be addressed BEFORE it contaminates the food. It should not be necessary to “fix” it with irradiation. The growers should be held accountable for providing purity. We were told before to wash the produce to prevent sickness–what was that all about? Is this method being employed because people are too lazy to wash their produce? This is just another reason why I have my own garden–even though it is pain.
Irradiated foods, including microwaved foods have been known to change the molecular structure of food and what you are eating has been altered. Irradiated foods have also been linked to messing up peoples endocrine systems (no wonder so many people are developing symptoms for unknown reasons) and are bodies end up attacking themselves because our bodies recognize these altered structures as something foreign. They should stop irradiating all foods. Radiation is cumulative and it takes years to develop symtomps. Think of that each time use use your microwave.
http://www.truehealth.org/nukedfood.html
I want all of those who put so much respect and trust to the FDA, the CIA and any other government agency, they have been lying to us for years and most people who think they are pretty intelligent and well informed, I hate to burst your bubble, but you are not. They expect that you are going to believe them and the tests they take are paid by the companies doing the test. These tests are incomplete and are monitored. My information comes from independent studies, not the government whom you certainly can’t trust. Seriously, beware of government fraud and deceitful false truths.
No Frankenstein veggies for me thanks!
Maybe if they stopped growing the food in human feces we wouldn’t have to worry about getting sick from it. Attack the source of the problem,instead of giving us a “solution” that increases cancer!
(Note to the ignorant…If it’s true all this crap is safe,why is it that the rates of cancer are increasing?)
Great web site on this issue and many others,get educated,then speak up and out…
http://www.naturalnews.com/024075.html
I tend to buy mostly organice, but I won’t let the irradiation stop me from buying spinach and lettuces. I’m more concerned with how local the crops are.
Using the microwave in your home is the same as using a commercial scale food irradiator…they both use radiant energy (of different wavelengths) to cook food. If the radiation generated by these devices stayed in the food, they’d call it “contaminating” the food not cooking it. The molecular structure of food changes with any cooking technique, a common result of heat application.
For you conspiracy theorists out there, just think for a minute about how much effort it would take the government to cover up 50+ years of research by non-government agencies which have researched this effect. The government has NOTHING to gain from altering food irradiation data.
Please irradiate my food, it saves me a step at home!