Irradiation, approved by the FDA
(U.S. Food and Drug Administration) in 1963, is used on more than 40 food
products throughout 37 countries.
The FDA supports the use of Cobalt-60 on all domestically
produced conventional food. The level of gamma-radiation used starts at one KiloGray
(A unit of absorbed energy from ionizing radiation
equal to one thousand grays) and up to 30 KiloGrays, which is 10,000,
times a human lethal dose.
As with any topic, there are opposing points of view. The FDA
promotes the use of irradiation as a method of fighting foodborne illnesses. On
the other side of the table, the opponents say this process is producing a completely
new class of food contaminants.
The CDC (Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention) estimates that each year roughly 1 in 6
Americans (or 48 million people) gets sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000
die of foodborne diseases.
From the USDA (United
States Department of Agriculture), "Treatment of foods containing fatty
acids, including meat and poultry, with ionizing radiation can lead to the
formation of a class of chemicals called 2-alkylcyclobutanones (2-ACBs) that
are unique to irradiated foods. The major 2-ACB formed in irradiated meat is 2
dodecylcyclobutanone (2-DCB), which is formed by the radiolysis of palmitic
acid. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends that indirect food
additives consumed in quantities greater than 1.5 ug per day be tested for
safety. On average, approximately 6.0 ug of 2-DCB is present in an irradiated,
and then cooked, 125 g ground beef patty, which exceeds the 1.5 ug/day limit.
Because of the availability of irradiated ground beef as part of the National
School Lunch Program in the U.S. "consumer groups" opposed to food
irradiation have requested that 2-DCB be tested in appropriate genotoxicity
assays, even though irradiated meats have been extensively tested for safety in
animal studies, and have been approved by the FDA for consumption by humans. In
order to address the question of 2-DCB genotoxicity the purified compound was
tested in 6 genotoxicity tests including bacterial reverse mutation assays, a
5-flouro-uracil mutagenesis assay, the yeast DEL assay, the Pro-ToxTM Assay,
and for the formation of 6-thioguanine resistant mutants in human TK6
lymphoblasts. No 2-DCB induced mutagenesis was observed in any of the test
systems, both with and without exogenous metabolic activation. "
The USDA does not deny the existence of these compounds, the
difference of opinion is in how dangerous they are to our health.
One
such difference of opinion is GreenMedInfo.com, whose mission is "empower families to
use the wisdom of traditional foods and natural healing." Has a different
view of the process: "Despite the
irresponsible promotion of this process as safe, food irradiation destroys much
of the vitamin content of food, produces a number of toxic byproducts:
formaldehyde, benzene, and formic acid, as well as unique radiolytic products,
e.g. 2-alklycyclobutanoes, that have been demonstrated to be cytotoxic (damages
cells), genotoxic (damages DNA), and carcinogenic (causes cancer) in test tube
and animal studies."
In addition, some think the process is in place to cover up
for our filthy production practices.
In closing, a little "food for
thought," no pun intended, it is becoming increasingly clear
that our food supply is a major source of illness and disease in this country.
As always, your best defense is knowledge, inform yourself, buy local if
possible and know your farmer.
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