Moby
08-23-2008, 03:08 PM
I would prefer food to be labeled or at least allow companies to make the claim that the food was "Not Irradiated". Considering that we're one of the most unhealthiest industrialised nations because of what we eat I don't put a lot of stock in the FDA or food industry.
http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_10275342
By Michael Doyle and Robert Rodriguez
Fresno Bee
Article Launched: 08/22/2008 08:45:26 AM PDT
Federal regulators are expected today to let processors for the first time use radiation to kill bacteria in spinach and iceberg lettuce.
The step will protect consumers and growers, who have been battered by E. coli outbreaks in recent years.
But are shoppers ready for irradiated vegetables?
Experts point out that meat and some other foods have been treated with radiation for years, with little or no resistance from shoppers. But that may be simply because few are aware of the practice.
Anuradha Prakash, an assistant professor at Chapman University and an expert on food irradiation, said consumers are ready to make their food safer given the outbreaks that have occurred in the past few years related to fresh produce.
"But there will have to be lots of consumer education before they will accept it," Prakash said.
Christine Bruhn, a University of California food science marketing specialist and director of the UC Davis Center for Consumer Research, agreed. She said that while some consumers are ready, most are unaware of the practice.
"Maybe the science community has not spoken enough about this," Bruhn said. "But they will be doing it more and more now."
The Food and Drug Administration is set to formally give the green light today to a practice officials have concluded is safe. The long-awaited decision comes in the wake of high-profile bacterial outbreaks involving tainted California greens.
"I hope we will see a reduction in the number of food-borne illnesses," Dr. Robert Brackett, chief scientist with the Grocery Manufacturers Association, said Thursday. "It gives the industry another tool to increase food safety."
Irradiation of beef has been allowed since 2000. Yet only about 15 million pounds of the roughly 8 billion pounds of beef processed annually is irradiated, Dennis Olson, an Iowa State University meat scientist and irradiation expert, told the Chicago Tribune.
The beef industry liked the concept, but didn't want to promote irradiation because of consumer concerns, he said.
However, Bruhn said Wegmans Food Markets Inc. of Rochester, N.Y., has been offering irradiated ground beef for several years and consumers have responded positively.
The FDA's decision is spelled out in a 25-page document being published today in the Federal Register, which emphasizes the safety of food irradiation.
"There is no reason to suspect a toxicological hazard due to consumption of an irradiated food," the FDA states.
John Reed of Fresno said he isn't worried about irradiating spinach and lettuce. In fact, he welcomes it.
"It is a great idea," he said, while shopping at downtown Fresno's farmers market. "With all the scares that there have been involving spinach, this is a good step forward."
But Greg Douglas, also at the market, said the government is attacking the problem from the wrong end. He said he believes the problem of contamination should be addressed at the field and processing levels.
"Why aren't they looking at the source of what causes these problems?" said Douglas of Fresno. "This just doesn't seem right to me."
A spokeswoman for the 3,000-member California-based Western Growers said that while the fresh produce industry welcomes any new technology that improves safety, its members will use only techniques that are appropriate and that consumers will accept.
"The growers and shippers of spinach and iceberg lettuce will conduct assessments to see how effectively this can be accomplished with produce and what investment will be needed," said Wendy Fink-Weber, director of communications for Western Growers. "I think there is a long way to go before irradiation is implemented."
Organic grower Tom Willey, of T&D Willey Farms in Madera, said he doesn't like the idea of irradiation.
"To me, it's like the pasteurization of milk," said Willey, an organic farmer. "In a way, its like erasing your mistakes and saying something is safe that is not produced in a safe manner."
The FDA's decision adds leafy greens to a menu of other foods that can already be irradiated, including spices, dried vegetables and ground beef. In theory, the low doses of radiation will eradicate potentially devastating Escherichia coli bacteria as well as other nasties including salmonella, shigella and listeria.
An estimated 70,000 U.S. residents fall ill annually because of the bacteria group commonly known as E. coli 0157, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Severe stomach cramps, diarrhea and vomiting can prove particularly ruinous for young children and the elderly.
Two elderly women and a 2-year-old child died, and more than 200 people in 26 states fell ill, due to a late 2006 E. coli outbreak ultimately traced to packaged spinach grown on a Central California farm. California growers subsequently formed their own California Leafy Green Handler Marketing Board to oversee farm safety standards.
The original request to irradiate leafy greens, however, comes from higher up in the food chain -- the food processors, instead of the farmers.
The FDA's decision comes almost exactly nine years after what was then called the National Food Processors Association requested approval for use of radiation. The trade organization's 95-page petition filed in August 1999 asked for an "expedited" decision, covering multiple foods.
"Expedited" didn't happen, as the notion of bathing food with X-rays alarmed some consumer advocates. Following the 2006 spinach episode, industry officials with what is now called the Grocery Manufacturers Association pressed for at least a quicker decision on leafy greens.
"The treatment of food with ionizing radiation can produce a variety of beneficial effects," the trade association noted in its application. "However, it should be clear that irradiation is not a remedy for unsatisfactory production practices."
One 1997 study cited by the trade association, for instance, found that irradiating fresh-cut, commercially prepared lettuce slashed the microbial population from 220,000 "colony forming units" per gram to barely 200 per gram. The colony forming unit per gram, or CFU/g, is the standard measurement for microbial contamination.
Radiation also can whittle away at certain vitamins, including thiamin, vitamin E and vitamin A. The trade industry's application nonetheless asserted that "it is unlikely that irradiation will have significant nutritional impact on a balanced diet of raw, canned and ready-to-eat fruits and vegetables."
The FDA, in its decision statement being published today, agreed that irradiation "will not have an adverse effect" on the nutritional makeup of spinach and iceberg lettuce.
"We don't have much concern about the safety of irradiated foods," said Caroline Smith DeWaal, food safety director for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, "but there are simpler steps that can be taken."
Smith DeWaal called irradiation a costly "end-of-the-line technology," which should be accompanied by safer produce handling measures at the farm level.
An estimated 680 million pounds of spinach were grown in the United States last year, with California accounting for about three-quarters of the total. New Jersey and Arizona are the other two leading producers of spinach, which has increasingly been bagged and packaged by companies like Dole.
http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_10275342
By Michael Doyle and Robert Rodriguez
Fresno Bee
Article Launched: 08/22/2008 08:45:26 AM PDT
Federal regulators are expected today to let processors for the first time use radiation to kill bacteria in spinach and iceberg lettuce.
The step will protect consumers and growers, who have been battered by E. coli outbreaks in recent years.
But are shoppers ready for irradiated vegetables?
Experts point out that meat and some other foods have been treated with radiation for years, with little or no resistance from shoppers. But that may be simply because few are aware of the practice.
Anuradha Prakash, an assistant professor at Chapman University and an expert on food irradiation, said consumers are ready to make their food safer given the outbreaks that have occurred in the past few years related to fresh produce.
"But there will have to be lots of consumer education before they will accept it," Prakash said.
Christine Bruhn, a University of California food science marketing specialist and director of the UC Davis Center for Consumer Research, agreed. She said that while some consumers are ready, most are unaware of the practice.
"Maybe the science community has not spoken enough about this," Bruhn said. "But they will be doing it more and more now."
The Food and Drug Administration is set to formally give the green light today to a practice officials have concluded is safe. The long-awaited decision comes in the wake of high-profile bacterial outbreaks involving tainted California greens.
"I hope we will see a reduction in the number of food-borne illnesses," Dr. Robert Brackett, chief scientist with the Grocery Manufacturers Association, said Thursday. "It gives the industry another tool to increase food safety."
Irradiation of beef has been allowed since 2000. Yet only about 15 million pounds of the roughly 8 billion pounds of beef processed annually is irradiated, Dennis Olson, an Iowa State University meat scientist and irradiation expert, told the Chicago Tribune.
The beef industry liked the concept, but didn't want to promote irradiation because of consumer concerns, he said.
However, Bruhn said Wegmans Food Markets Inc. of Rochester, N.Y., has been offering irradiated ground beef for several years and consumers have responded positively.
The FDA's decision is spelled out in a 25-page document being published today in the Federal Register, which emphasizes the safety of food irradiation.
"There is no reason to suspect a toxicological hazard due to consumption of an irradiated food," the FDA states.
John Reed of Fresno said he isn't worried about irradiating spinach and lettuce. In fact, he welcomes it.
"It is a great idea," he said, while shopping at downtown Fresno's farmers market. "With all the scares that there have been involving spinach, this is a good step forward."
But Greg Douglas, also at the market, said the government is attacking the problem from the wrong end. He said he believes the problem of contamination should be addressed at the field and processing levels.
"Why aren't they looking at the source of what causes these problems?" said Douglas of Fresno. "This just doesn't seem right to me."
A spokeswoman for the 3,000-member California-based Western Growers said that while the fresh produce industry welcomes any new technology that improves safety, its members will use only techniques that are appropriate and that consumers will accept.
"The growers and shippers of spinach and iceberg lettuce will conduct assessments to see how effectively this can be accomplished with produce and what investment will be needed," said Wendy Fink-Weber, director of communications for Western Growers. "I think there is a long way to go before irradiation is implemented."
Organic grower Tom Willey, of T&D Willey Farms in Madera, said he doesn't like the idea of irradiation.
"To me, it's like the pasteurization of milk," said Willey, an organic farmer. "In a way, its like erasing your mistakes and saying something is safe that is not produced in a safe manner."
The FDA's decision adds leafy greens to a menu of other foods that can already be irradiated, including spices, dried vegetables and ground beef. In theory, the low doses of radiation will eradicate potentially devastating Escherichia coli bacteria as well as other nasties including salmonella, shigella and listeria.
An estimated 70,000 U.S. residents fall ill annually because of the bacteria group commonly known as E. coli 0157, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Severe stomach cramps, diarrhea and vomiting can prove particularly ruinous for young children and the elderly.
Two elderly women and a 2-year-old child died, and more than 200 people in 26 states fell ill, due to a late 2006 E. coli outbreak ultimately traced to packaged spinach grown on a Central California farm. California growers subsequently formed their own California Leafy Green Handler Marketing Board to oversee farm safety standards.
The original request to irradiate leafy greens, however, comes from higher up in the food chain -- the food processors, instead of the farmers.
The FDA's decision comes almost exactly nine years after what was then called the National Food Processors Association requested approval for use of radiation. The trade organization's 95-page petition filed in August 1999 asked for an "expedited" decision, covering multiple foods.
"Expedited" didn't happen, as the notion of bathing food with X-rays alarmed some consumer advocates. Following the 2006 spinach episode, industry officials with what is now called the Grocery Manufacturers Association pressed for at least a quicker decision on leafy greens.
"The treatment of food with ionizing radiation can produce a variety of beneficial effects," the trade association noted in its application. "However, it should be clear that irradiation is not a remedy for unsatisfactory production practices."
One 1997 study cited by the trade association, for instance, found that irradiating fresh-cut, commercially prepared lettuce slashed the microbial population from 220,000 "colony forming units" per gram to barely 200 per gram. The colony forming unit per gram, or CFU/g, is the standard measurement for microbial contamination.
Radiation also can whittle away at certain vitamins, including thiamin, vitamin E and vitamin A. The trade industry's application nonetheless asserted that "it is unlikely that irradiation will have significant nutritional impact on a balanced diet of raw, canned and ready-to-eat fruits and vegetables."
The FDA, in its decision statement being published today, agreed that irradiation "will not have an adverse effect" on the nutritional makeup of spinach and iceberg lettuce.
"We don't have much concern about the safety of irradiated foods," said Caroline Smith DeWaal, food safety director for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, "but there are simpler steps that can be taken."
Smith DeWaal called irradiation a costly "end-of-the-line technology," which should be accompanied by safer produce handling measures at the farm level.
An estimated 680 million pounds of spinach were grown in the United States last year, with California accounting for about three-quarters of the total. New Jersey and Arizona are the other two leading producers of spinach, which has increasingly been bagged and packaged by companies like Dole.