InnerSelf.com

Food irradiation:
A giant leap away
from a holistic solution to food safety

by Danila Oder

The question the media focuses on, is "will irradiated food harm my health?" The FDA, USDA, AMA, many public health people and the food industry answers "absolutely not." That's enough to close the question for most people. I answer, "we don't know, because there aren't any long-term human health studies, plus the studies the FDA used to approve irradiation all have problems. Therefore we need labels so people can choose not to buy irradiated food." That sounds vague, and people tend to tune out and assume the government is acting in their best interests.

Fortunately, some people look at life holistically. They ask, "where does this technology fit in to my vision of a better world?"

Food irradiation gives the factory farming system a new lease on life. Meat and chicken producers can continue business as usual, and 'clean up' the product at the end of the line. Many small changes in animal raising and slaughter have contributed to the recent outbreaks of food poisoning and product recalls. Many small changes are possible that could prevent them -- but these changes cost money. Instead of spending money to fix the system -- or better yet, go organic -- meat and poultry producers will simply pass the 3-6 cent/pound cost of irradiation on to the consumer.

As of February 22, irradiated food can legally be sold. Already major meat packers Excel, IBP, Tyson, Emmpak and Colorado Boxed Beef have announced they will irradiate. Kraft has jumped on the bandwagon, but has not yet announced which products. It is only a matter of time before other meat companies follow.

Vegetarians and people who eat only organic meat will be affected as well. The companies that build the irradiation facilities want to operate them to full capacity. They will seek out other foods to irradiate.

A company called Hawaii Pride is building an irradiation facility on the Big Island to disinfest papayas and other tropical fruits. It will open in June 2000. Other treatments for papayas are already used successfully, and irradiation is unnecessary.

Hand-in-hand with the factory farmers' push to irradiate their fecally contaminated products is their attempt to change the FDA rules for labeling irradiated foods. Several agribusiness-friendly Senators amended a major 1997 bill to make the declaration of irradiation almost unreadable -- the size of the type on the ingredient label. That was the first step in the plan. The second step was to tell the FDA to consider taking off all the labels if they caused consumers "inappropriate anxiety." Congress passed the bill.

In July, 1999 the FDA received about 30,000 comments and signatures demanding permanent, conspicuous, clear labeling for all irradiated foods. The FDA is currently rewriting the regulation. The public will have another chance to comment.

Right now, no labels are required for restaurant or institutional food. The only irradiated foods available in any quantity are spices and some herb teas, which don't have to be labeled. However, the National Food Processors Association has asked for FDA approval for irradiating fresh juices, sprouts, seeds, frozen foods, prepared fresh foods and deli meats.

The FDA's decision will be critical. If they cease requiring labels, there will be a flood of irradiated food on the market, including fruits and vegetables (strawberries will probably be the first). Producers and packagers will irradiate merely to protect themselves from legal liability. They will pass the cost on to the consumer. Even if the labels are retained, expect nearly all meat and poultry to be irradiated.

The FDA's decision will also affect world trade. Just as with genetic engineering, the US will pressure other countries to accept unlabeled irradiated food even if they have labeling laws. These laws will be overturned by the Codex Alimentarius, the WTO's food overseers. In order to meet US import standards, Third World countries will irradiate using nuclear materials happily supplied by a revitalized US and Canadian nuclear industry.

Food irradiation is very easy to understand from a holistic point of view. It is a smoke screen behind which the environmentally unsustainable, cruel, and politically powerful factory farming system continues to turn out cheap meat. The story of the meat industry's influence on Congress is detailed in an excellent report from the Center for Public Integrity called "Safety Last" www.publicintegrity.org/safety_last.html Food irradiation is a means to keep meat cheap, and producers free of legal liability.

There are many other reasons to be concerned about food irradiation. It destroys 5-50% of vitamins, particularly A, C and E, and damages or destroys the living enzymes. Advocates say it is 'like cooking.' No human studies longer than 15 weeks, and almost no studies on children, have been conducted. Many animal studies showed health effects. Without labels, scientists will not be able to compare people who avoided irradiated foods with people who ate them. Once irradiation is established, the FDA may try again to allow 'organic' to include irradiated food. And, through their actions on Congress, it is clear that the meat/food processing industries have been trying to deny the public our right to know what we are eating.

Most food that will be irradiated in the US in the near future will use electron-beams, not nuclear materials. However, the Department of Energy is considering reopening the Hanford nuclear reactor, where food irradiation will subsidize plutonium production. The decision is scheduled for December 2000. That is only the first step to reintroduce nuclear materials for use in food irradiation, once it is commercially acceptable.

Most companies are taking a 'wait and see' attitude on food irradiation, so it is critical for people to tell them they won't buy it.

It would be nice if we could assume that food safety meant soap and water, instead of a million medical x-rays slamming into our food. Yes, we can eat organic, and yes, for now, most of our diets will not be irradiated. However, everyone who is not 100% organic will soon be eating some irradiated foods.

At the same time it damages antioxidant vitamins, irradiation produces free radicals and unique radiolytic products. Some studies suggest eating some irradiated foods may affect human chromosomes. I think of irradiated food as another assault on our immune systems, like low-level radiation and air pollution and dioxin in our coffee filters and pesticides in our vegetables and a million other technologies that create a problem for each one they solve.-?

By boycotting irradiated foods and demanding labels from the FDA, we can stop, or slow down this assault and reaffirm our support for a sustainable, holistic, organic agricultural system.

For more information, visit the comprehensive BioDemocracy/Organic Consumers Association site at http://www.purefood.org/irradlink.html or Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy Project at http://www.citizen.org/cmep/ or call Food & Water at 1-800-EAT-SAFE.

About The Author

Danila Oder is the Food Irradiation Coordinator for BioDemocracy/OCA (formerly the Campaign for Food Safety), a grassroots information and education organization based in Minnesota, with activists around the country. Contact her at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . www.purefood.org/irradlink.html

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