  During food irradiation, food is exposed to very high doses of radiation, in the form of gamma rays, X-rays or electron beams. Irradiation can kill nearly all bacteria in food, both good and bad (yes, some bacteria is good for you!), but it is helpless against mad cow disease and viruses i like foot and mouth disease and hepatitis.
How is food irradiation different from microwaving?
The main purpose of food irradiation is to preserve foods and extend the shelf life of products. Food irradiation is considered to be a "cold" process because it achieves its effect with hardly any increase in the irradiated foods' temperatures. It uses gamma rays with short wavelengths and high frequencies that penetrate food so rapidly that little or no heat is produced. Microwave radiation uses longer wavelengths and less energy than irradiation. Unlike irradiation, microwaving causes foods to heat rapidly, and they can undergo changes in texture and shape as well. For example, microwaved corn kernels change shape and texture as they become hot popcorn. ii
Food irradiation creates food safety issues that are far more serious than those posed by microwaving.iii The large amount of energy contained in the ionizing radiation used in food irradiation allows for complex chemical changes to occur in food components, including the production of mutagenic or carcinogenic substances which were found in very small amounts or were not present at all before irradiation. iv
Effects of Food Irradiation
The long-term health consequences of eating irradiated food are still unknown. Irradiation creates a complex series of reactions that literally rip apart the molecular structure of the food. This process creates known carcinogens like benzene and other toxic chemicals including toluene.v Also, irradiation byproducts called 2-ACBs, which do not occur naturally in any food, have been linked to cancer development in rats vii and genetic damage in human cells.viii Other serious health problems have been observed in animals fed irradiated foods, including premature death, mutations, stillbirths, organ damage and nutritional deficiencies.ix
Irradiation can also alter the flavor, odor, texture, color and nutritional value of food.x For example, egg yolks are more watery, and have less color and brightness than normal eggs. It also destroys the niacin and vitamins in eggs,xi including up to 24 percent of their vitamin A when exposed to just one-third the level of radiation that the FDA has approved as safe.xii
For consumers, the risks involved with food irradiation far outweigh any benefits. And even though the process might kill some harmful bacteria, the food can be easily re-infected after irraditation, either while being shipped, sold or prepared by the consumer.
The agriculture industry is trying to use food irradiation as a quick fix to a much larger problem created by their own factory farms. The overcrowded and unsanitary conditions on factory farms make animals more susceptible to disease and injury, and can increase the levels of pathogens in their bodies. The filthy conditions in slaughterhouses where animals are killed at an extremely fast pace, endanger the health of people who eat that meat.
What You Can Do
Food irradiation is not the answer. Eating locally-grown, sustainable food from independent family farmers is. Here are some things you can do to avoid irradiated foods:
Radura Symbol - It is legally required that all irradiated foods bear this symbol.
- Avoid buying foods with the radura symbol - this symbol marks all irradiated foods.
- Tell your local school board officials not to serve irradiated foods to their students.
- Ask restaurant and grocery store managers not to sell irradiated foods.
- Some spices that have been irradiated are not marked with the radura symbol. To ensure your spices have not been treated with irradiation, buy organic spices or ask the companies that make your spices whether or not they irradiate their products. And tell those companies that you don't want to buy irradiated products.
Did You Know?
- In a study conducted by Consumer Reports, professional taste testers noticed that most samples of cooked irradiated beef and chicken had "a slight but distinct off-taste and smell" similar to that of singed hair. xiv
- Proper cooking destroys more bacteria than irradiation.xv
- Since irradiation fails to eliminate all bacteria from foods, and since foods can become contaminated after having been irradiated, the process does not prevent food borne illness. The FDA recommends the same food-handling practices for irradiated foods as for any other foods. xvi
For More Information
Reports and Articles
- "Preventing Pathogenic Food Poisoning: Sanitation Not Irradiation" International Journal of Health Services, 2001
Sources
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