Comments on: Irradiation is Another Example of FDA Failure

By: Answering Your Questions About “Organic” « Gaiam Experts Blog

Answering Your Questions About “Organic” « Gaiam Experts Blog — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 18:37:38 +0000

[...] also includes certain processes used by non-organic farmers, such as bioengineering and irradiation as processes that organic farmers should [...]

By: Robin

Robin — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 22:53:14 +0000

I am not a scientist, I am simply a mother/grandmother who is concerned about the safety of our food supply. I am also concerned about the every day citizen’s ability to make informed choices about their food when the government is willing to allow food producers to conceal the information necessary to make these choices. I believe the consumer/citizen should have the right to know if our food has been genetically altered, if antibiotics and growth hormones have been fed to the animals we rely on for meat and milk, what chemicals are used in fertilizers and yes if our food has been irradiated. I am not trying to tell the producers they cannot use these procedures in raising and manufacturing their product. I am simply saying that as a consumer I have the right to know and make an informed choice. This information should never be allowed to be hidden or displayed in a way that is not perfectly clear. I am also concerned that the citizens in the lower income brackets are coming out the loser on this issue. I say this because even with the full and correct disclosure of this information many have no choice but to purchase food products treated in this manner because it is less expensive. I feel there is no incentive for the wealthy food producers to clean up their act because they can afford to buy organic. They do not have to eat or drink what is commonly offered for sale in our local grocery markets. If I could afford it I would purchase organic only. With cancer on the rise food producers need to be mindful of the health of the public. When it comes to foreign imports I think the same requirements should apply. Perhaps even stronger inspections should take place. My own daughter was sickened in 1997 with hepatitis A from strawberries sold to the school lunch program in Michigan. These strawberries were fraudulently offered as being raised in the US when they actually were produced in unsanitary conditions in Mexico. Many of her classmates as well as some adults were made ill from this deception. Clean food, water and air are basic needs for the health of all citizens. In the absence of a perfect world we should at least have truthful and complete information about the food, beverages and medicines we consume.

By: Lloyd S Parker

Lloyd S Parker — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 17:39:20 +0000

Those that oppose irradiation would rather have us assume a significant risk of illness or death by eating food grown in the ground rather than use an effective method to eliminate the risk of illness.

Current methods used to clean produce, such as a chlorine wash, are carcinogenic and banned in parts of the world. Where are the clean farm advocates on chlorine? You can’t raise money fighting chlorine but you can raise money fighting irradiation and spreading ignorance.

Irradiation, the most studied food safety method in history, does not leave a residue. Some minor chemical changes occur, producing low levels of furans. The furans found are also found in some cooked foods and at higher levels. Why are those cooked foods worthy of a warning.

Irradiated foods have been consumed since the 1920s. Any new method proposed for food safety will not have the wealth of research to reassure us of its safety.

People who have suppressed immune systems are entitled to protect their health with irradiated foods.

By: P

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 16:04:48 +0000

Here is an interesting article regarding cleaning produce that sound a lot safer. You have to wonder why this is not more in the news?

http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2008/06/26/Produce_wash_kills_bacteria_on_food/UPI-42751214505272/

Produce wash kills bacteria on food

Published: June 26, 2008 at 2:34 PM

PULLMAN, Wash., June 26 (UPI) — A fruit and vegetable wash, when used in food-manufacturing, can decrease food pathogens in produce-processing wash water, U.S. researchers said.

Researchers at the University of Idaho and Washington State University said the product sold commercially as FIT Fruit and Vegetable Wash, not only proved much more effective than the commonly used chlorine dioxide, but is made from ingredients like citric acid and distilled grapefruit oil that are generally regarded as safe.

Chlorine dioxide, used in food plants, can put workers at risk, when compromised by soils and plant debris in the wash water. In the study, chlorine dioxide killed 90 percent of the target organisms in the food plant and follow-up laboratory studies. By contrast, FIT killed 99.999 percent, said food scientist Dong-Hyun Kang of Washington State University.

“If you had a million bacteria, you would have one left,” Kang said.

The research — unusual because part of it was conducted under real-world conditions in an Idaho fresh pack potato operation — is published online ahead of print in the Journal of Food Science in August.