tagged w/ Irradiation
-
The FDA describes Food Irradiation as a "safe measure" that: "is a process in which food products are exposed to a controlled amount of radiant energy to kill harmful bacteria such as E. coli O157:H7, Campylo-bacter, and Salmonella. The process also can control insects and parasites, reduce spoilage, and inhibit ripening and sprouting.
Is it worth it?
Irradiation damages the quality of food.
· Irradiation damages food by breaking up molecules and creating free radicals. The free radicals kill some bacteria, but they also bounce around in the food, damage vitamins and enzymes, and combine with existing chemicals (like pesticides) in the food to form new chemicals, called unique radiolytic products (URPs).
· Some of these URPs are known toxins (benzene, formaldehyde, lipid peroxides) and some are unique to irradiated foods. Scientists have not studied the long-term effect of these new chemicals in our diet. Therefore, we cannot assume they are safe.
· Irradiated foods can lose 5%-80% of many vitamins (A, C, E, K and B complex). The amount of loss depends on the dose of irradiation and the length of storage time.
· Most of the food in the American diet is already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for irradiation: beef, pork, lamb, poultry, wheat, wheat flour, vegetables, fruits, shell eggs, seeds for sprouting, spices, herb teas. (Dairy is already pasteurized). A food industry petition currently before the FDA asks for approval for luncheon meats, salad bar items, sprouts, fresh juices and frozen foods. Another petition before the USDA asks for approval for imported fruits and vegetables.
· Irradiation damages the natural digestive enzymes found in raw foods. This means the body has to work harder to digest them.
· If unlabeled, raw foods that have been irradiated look like fresh foods, but nutritionally they are like cooked foods, with decreased vitamins and enzymes. The FDA allows these foods to be labeled "fresh."
· Irradiated fats tend to become rancid.
· When high-energy electron beams are used, trace amounts of radioactivity may be created in the food.The FDA describes Food Irradiation as a "safe measure" that: "is a... more
-
-
Center for Food Safety calls FDA approval of irradiation of spinach and lettuce a false solution to unsanitary practices of industrial agriculture.
Washington, D.C. (August 21, 2008) - The FDA announced today that it will allow food producers to start irradiating fresh spinach and iceberg lettuce in an attempt to kill E. coli O157:H7 and other bacteria that cause food-borne illnesses, despite scientific and consumer concerns about the use of irradiation. The move comes in response to a petition filed by The National Food Processors Association, a trade group representing major food companies.
"Irradiation is not the solution to food-borne illness," said Bill Freese, Science Policy Analyst at the Center for Food Safety. "In fact, it serves to distract attention from the unsanitary conditions of industrial agriculture that create the problem in the first place."
In 2006, California spinach contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 sickened over 200 people, and killed three. A field investigation by FDA and the State of California identified the same strain of E. coli O157:H7 in cattle feces from a ranch close to where the spinach was grown.
Besides being the source of 3/4ths of the nations spinach, California is home to nearly 5 million cows which produce 15 million tons of manure every year - manure that often ends up in nearby waterways, including the ditches and channels of irrigation water for crops like spinach. Dried manure can even blow onto neighboring fields in clouds of dust.
"Irradiation kills some bacteria in our foods, but it is no substitute for measures to clean up the huge animal operations that pollute our waterways and irrigation water with the raw manure that often carries pathogenic bacteria," said Freese.
Contamination of leafy greens is not a new problem. According to the California Department of Health Services, in the last 11 years, 20 E. coli outbreaks have been linked to "leafy products" grown in California, including two related to spinach.
"Food companies are also seeking FDA permission to label irradiated foods as 'pasteurized' - an obvious attempt to conceal from consumers the fact that foods are being irradiated," added Freese.
(continued at link)Center for Food Safety calls FDA approval of irradiation of spinach and lettuce a... more
-
-
The FDA has approved irradiating spinach and lettuce. Tell the FDA this is not acceptable for the following reasons:
Irradiating food makes food more dangerous, not safer. Some major concerns with food irradiation include:
-The formation of free radicals, which can set off chain reactions in the body that destroy antioxidants, tear apart cell membranes, and make the body more susceptible to cancer, diabetes, heart disease, liver damage, muscular breakdown and other serious problems.
-Serious health problems in laboratory testing, including, including premature death, fatal internal bleeding, cancer, stillbirths and other reproductive problems, mutations and other genetic damage, organ malfunctions, stunted growth and vitamin deficiencies.
-The creating mutant forms of dangerous bacteria, like E. coli and Salmonella
-Nutrient loss in foods, including the destruction of vitamins and essential fatty acids.
Tell the FDA here: http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=SubmitComment&o=09000064806d2f95
-The formation of carcinogenic chemicals, like benzene and toluene.
-While irradiated lettuce and spinach must be labeled in supermarkets, there are currently no labeling requirements for restaurants serving irradiated produce or other items. Patrons and clients may consume irradiated lettuce and spinach in the future without their knowledge, nor consent. The FDA has approved irradiating spinach and lettuce. Tell the FDA this is not... more
-
-
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has okayed the irradiation of lettuce and spinach. Food irradiation is the process of exposing food to ionizing radiation in order to destroy disease causing pathogens, like bacteria and viruses.
However, you can make your voice heard by taking part following this link to the FDA's 30-day comment period. OCA has created some talking points you might include and elaborate upon.
Irradiating food makes food more dangerous, not safer. Some major concerns with food irradiation include:
-The formation of free radicals, which can set off chain reactions in the body that destroy antioxidants, tear apart cell membranes, and make the body more susceptible to cancer, diabetes, heart disease, liver damage, muscular breakdown and other serious problems.
-Serious health problems in laboratory testing, including, including premature death, fatal internal bleeding, cancer, stillbirths and other reproductive problems, mutations and other genetic damage, organ malfunctions, stunted growth and vitamin deficiencies.
-The creating mutant forms of dangerous bacteria, like E. coli and Salmonella
-Nutrient loss in foods, including the destruction of vitamins and essential fatty acids.
-The formation of carcinogenic chemicals, like benzene and toluene.
-While irradiated lettuce and spinach must be labeled in supermarkets, there are currently no labeling requirements for restaurants serving irradiated produce or other items. Patrons and clients may consume irradiated lettuce and spinach in the future without their knowledge, nor consent.
-There are many alternatives to irradiation. Visit OCA's Irradiation Alternatives page for more information
Make your voice heard! Click here to send the FDA a message during the 30-Day Comment Period.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Voice your concerns and or objections to the FDA plan to irradiate lettuce and spinach at the link above. Once again, the FDA is taking it upon itself to effect the food we eat without our consent and without alerting consumers to potential health threats from irradiation. This is a chance for citizens to exercise their right to be heard to protect their own health and the health of their children.
Thank you.The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has okayed the irradiation of lettuce and... more
-
-
"Consumer awareness is considered undesirable by the FDA; an agency that also works hard to censor truthful statements about nutritional supplements and functional foods. Accordingly, the FDA pursues a policy of enforced ignorance of consumers regarding irradiated foods, nutritional supplements, medicinal herbs and all sorts of natural substances. It is currently illegal in the United States to state that cherries help ease arthritis inflammation if you are selling cherries. (http://www.naturalnews.com/019366.html)
On the food irradiation issue, the FDA is now proposing two things that are nothing short of astonishing in their degree of deceit:
FDA proposal #1: Irradiated foods shouldn't be labeled as irradiated unless consumers can visibly tell they're irradiated.
This ridiculous proposal by the FDA suggests that foods shouldn't be labeled as irradiated unless there is some obvious material damage to the foods (like their leaves are wilting). Thus, foods that don't appear to be irradiated should not have to be labeled as irradiated.
Imagine if this same ridiculous logic were used to regulate heavy metals content in foods: If consumers can't SEE the heavy metals, then they should be declared free of heavy metals!
FDA proposal #2: Irradiated foods should be labeled as "pasteurized," not "irradiated."
This FDA proposal is so bizarre that it makes you wonder whether the people working at the FDA are smoking crystal meth. They literally want irradiated foods to be labeled as "pasteurized."
And why? Because the word "pasteurized" sounds a lot more palatable to consumers, of course. Never mind the fact that it's a lie. Irradiated foods are not pasteurized, and pasteurized foods are not irradiated. These two words mean two different things, which is precisely why they each have their own entries in the dictionary. When you look up "irradiated," it does not say, "See pasteurized."
But the FDA is now playing the game of thought police by manipulating the public with screwy word replacement games that bear a strange resemblance to the kind of language used in the novel 1984 by George Orwell. And it is, indeed, an Orwellian kind of mind game that the FDA wants to play with the food supply: After unleashing Weapons of Mass Destruction (radiation) onto the foods, the FDA wants to label them all as simply being "pasteurized," keeping consumers ignorant and uninformed.
How do I know the FDA wants to do this? The agency said so itself in an April 4, 2007 document filed in the Federal Register (Volume 72, Number 64). As published in the document (2):
FDA is also proposing to allow a firm to petition FDA for use of an alternate term to "irradiation'' (other than "pasteurized''). In addition, FDA is proposing to permit a firm to use the term "pasteurized'' in lieu of "irradiated,'' provided it notifies the agency that the irradiation process being used meets the criteria specified for use of the term "pasteurized'' in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the act) and the agency does not object to the notification."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This deception is simply so immoral and so absolutely out of the realm of all humanity that I find it hard to wrap my head around it. The FDA, an organization of the US federal government that is supposedly here for our safety, only sees us as guinea pigs. They did it with GM foods, Rbgh, and the countless drugs on the market killing people, and they now do it with radioactive food without our consent. I don't even know what to say anymore. And this is so important because people otherwise will not know of this unless it gets out to the masses, and yet the media will not tell people about this. How many will have to get sick or die before it is considered news?
"Consumer awareness is considered undesirable by the FDA; an agency that also... more
-
