Nuclear Lunch

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Nuclear Lunch

JoAnn Guest -Dec 20, 2003 15:27 PST

 

Nuclear Lunch-

The Dangers and Unknowns of Food Irradiation

 

The recent push for food irradiation fails to acknowledge the

technology's inherent dangers, its intricate connections to the nuclear

industry, and the FDA's failure to prove safety.

 

 

 

eginning in 1986, the FDA has given the green light to expose nearly our

entire food supply to nuclear irradiation. Since then, staunch citizen

opposition has kept the technology out of use. But the recent hamburger

recall led both the food and nuclear industries to push hard for beef

irradiation's approval. Its use in the beef industry would open the door

to irradiation as the " solution " to contamination crises in all food

groups, from poulty to fruits and vegetables.

 

With beef irradiation's quick passage through the FDA approval process,

citizen opposition, not government regulation, remains the critical

component in keeping irradiated food off store shelves. And from the

hazards inherent in the technology to the FDA's own admission that the

safety studies are flawed, the risks involved with food irradiation far

outweigh the presumed " benefits. "

 

Irradiation Basics

Food is irradiated using radioactive gamma sources, usually cobalt 60 or

cesium 137, or high energy electron beams. The gamma rays break up the

molecular structure of the food, forming positively and negatively

charged particles called free radicals. The free radicals react with the

food to create new chemical substances called " radiolytic products. "

Those unique to the irradiation process are known as " unique radiolytic

products " (URPs).

 

Some radiolytic products, such as formaldehyde, benzene, formic acid,

and quinones are harmful to human health. Benzene, for example, is a

known carcinogen. In one experiment, seven times more benzene was found

in cooked, irradiated beef than in cooked, non-irradiated beef. Some

URPs are completely new chemicals that have not even been identified,

let alone tested for toxicity.

 

In addition, irradiation destroys essential vitamins and minerals,

including vitamin A, thiamine, B2, B3, B6, B12, folic acid, C, E, and K;

amino acid and essential polyunsaturated fatty acid content may also be

affected. A 20 to 80 percent loss of any of these is not uncommon.

 

Safety Studies Flawed

The FDA reviewed 441 toxicity studies to determine the safety of

irradiated foods. Dr. Marcia van Gemert, the team leader in charge of

new food additives at the FDA and the chairperson of the committee in

charge of investigating the studies, testified that all 441 studies were

flawed.

 

The government considers irradiation a food additive. In testing food

additives for toxicity, laboratory animals are fed high levels (in

comparison to a human diet) of potential toxins. The results must then

be applied to humans with theoretical models. It is questionable whether

the studies the FDA used to approve food irradiation followed this

process. In fact, the FDA claimed only five of the 441 were " properly

conducted, fully adequate by 1980 toxicological standards, and able to

stand alone in support of safety. " With the shaky assurance of just five

studies, the FDA approved irradiation for the public food system.

 

With the shaky assurance of just five studies, the FDA approved

irradiation for the public food supply.

 

To make matters worse, the Department of Preventitive Medicine and

Community Health of the New Jersey Medical School found two of the

studies were methodologically flawed. In a third study, animals eating a

diet of irradiated food experienced weight loss and miscarriage, almost

certainly due to irradiation-induced vitamin E dietary deficiency. The

remaining two studies investigated the effects of diets of foods

irradiated at doses below the FDA-approved general level of 100,000

rads. Thus, they cannot be used to justify food irradiation at the

levels approved by the FDA.

 

Other studies indicate serious health problems associated with eating

irradiated food. A compilation of 12 studies carried out by Raltech

Scientific Services, Inc. under contract with the U.S. government

examined the effect of feeding irradiated chicken to several different

animal species. The studies indicated the possibility of chromosome

damage, immunotoxicity, greater incidence of kidney disease, cardiac

thrombus, and fibroplasia. In reviewing Raltech's findings in 1984, USDA

researcher Donald Thayer asserted, " A collective assessment of study

results argues against a definitive conclusion that the gamma-irradiated

test material was free of toxic properties. "

 

Studies of rats fed irradiated food also indicate possible kidney and

testicular damage and a statistically significant increase in testicular

tumors. One landmark study in India found four out of five children fed

irradiated wheat developed polyploidy, a chromosomal abnormality that is

a good indication of future cancer development.

 

Irradiation proponents often claim that decades of research demonstrate

the safety of food irradiation, but the studies they use to prove it are

questionable. For instance, their " proof " includes studies completed by

Industry Bio-Test (IBT), a firm convicted in 1983 of conducting

fraudulent research for government and industry. As a result of IBT's

violations, the government lost about $4 million and six years of animal

feeding study data on food irradiation. Some of this discredited work is

still used as a part of the " scientific " basis for assurances of the

safety of food irradiation.

 

http://www.wildmatters.org/primer/nukelunch.htm

_________________

 

JoAnn Guest

mrsjoguest

DietaryTipsForHBP

http://www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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