Food Irradiation

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Food Irradiation

• Is it hazardous to the consumer?

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Food Irradiation

• Means the blasting of food with gamma rays in
  order to kill viruses, bacteria, fungi, and
  insects, prolongs the life of food by treating
  them with ionizing radiation.

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Historical Background

• Military wanted to find some way of keeping food
  longer
• Latest recall on meat and poultry
• Used in 1960s by other countries
• Astronauts use irradiated food

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Countries That Irradiate
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Regulated By

• Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
• U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
• Food Safety and Inspection Service
• Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

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• Petals-food
• Central circle-radiation source
• Broken outside circle- rays from the radiation
  source

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Process
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Radiation Doses for Food
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Scientific Definitions

• Low dose kills insects on fruits and grains.
• Medium dose kills most of bacteria that cause
  food borne illness and spoilage.
• High dose sterilizes meat and other foods and
  decontaminates herbs and spices.

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kGy

• Kilogray

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Food Safety Without Irradiation

• 76 million
• 325,000
• 5,000

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PROS
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Irradiation of meat could prove to be another
important tool to protect consumers from
food-borne disease. The process has been shown to
be safe and to significantly reduce bacterial
contamination.

• Michael A Friedman, Md.,
• Lead Deputy FDA Commissioner

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• E.Coli
• Red Meat

• Salmonella
• Poultry

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Cost Effective?

• Benefit

• Cost

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Irradiated Foods
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Who recommends Food Irradiation?

• American Medical Association
• American Dietetic Association
• American Council on Science and Health
• Centers for Disease Control
• Council for Agriculture Science Technology
• National Food Processors Association
• United States Department of Agriculture
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration

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Consumer Myths

• Irradiation wouldnt be necessary if food
  production and process facilities were cleaner.
• Irradiation will make food radioactive.
• -dont give off neutrons , therefore nothing
  around them becomes radioactive
• (As found at www.ccr.ucdavis.edu)

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• The research is pretty clear that when consumers
  are told what irradiation is , a majority of
  people support and will buy irradiated foods.
• Christine Bruhn
• University of California-Davis

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Pros

• Kills E. Coli and Salmonella
• Safe and Simple
• Kills harmful Pathogens

• Inexpensive
• Preserves shelf life

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CONS
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Nutrition Lost

• Can lose 5 - 80 of many vitamins (A,C,E,K B
  complex)
• Amino Acids
• Essential Fatty Acids
• Damages natural digestive enzymes
• Natural nutrients from soil are also lost

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Inaccurate Information

• Based approval for poultry on only 5 of 441 tests
  
• Longest study ever done on humans 15 wks.
• No evidence of long term effects
• Doses were less than what the FDA had approved
• www.all-organic-food.com
• www.organicconsumers.org

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These studies reviewed in the 1982 literature
from the FDA were not adequate by 1982 standards,
and were even less accurate by 1993 standards to
evaluate the safety of any product, especially a
food product such as irradiated food.

• Marcia van Gemert, Ph.D., Toxicologist chairman
  of FDA Committee of Irradiated Food

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Internal Effects

• Enlarged the hearts of mice 2-3 times
• Increased tumors
• Reproductive failures
• Kidney damage

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Contaminating Environment

• Georgia in 1998 radioactive water escaped from
  facility.
• Tax payers are stuck with 47 million in clean up
  costs.
• 1967 in Hawaii and 1982 in New Jersey radioactive
  water was flushed into public sewer system.

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Food irradiation is not a cure-all for food
problems. Proper handling and storage by the
consumer are still important.

• Center for Consumer Research
• University of California-Davis

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Cons

• Loss of nutrients and digestive enzymes
• Inaccurate information
• Caused internal problems in lab animals
• Contaminating environment

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Thank you

• Leander FFA
• Heather Peterson, Megan Dowdy, Kelsey Shipman and
  Shelly Hammack

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