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Food Irradiation: Why Vegetarians Should Care

Although red meat and poultry will be the most commonly irradiated
foods, essentially all fruits and vegetables (and spices and teas) can be
legally irradiated in the United States. Irradiation IS a vegetarian
issue:

- The United States has 50 licensed irradiation facilities: most
are used to sterilize medical and pharmaceutical supplies, but 16 also
irradiate spices for wholesale use, and several others already irradiate
citrus fruits, tropical fruits, strawberries, tomatoes, mushrooms,
potatoes and onions.
- Irradiation facilities will be built to make a profit--they will
have to be used. Irradiators will actively recruit packagers and producers
of fruits and vegetables, and products containing fruits and vegetables,
to use irradiation.
- Some facilities will be built near slaughterhouses and handle
only meat. Others will be built in agricultural communities to irradiate
produce straight from the fields. Others will be built closer to the point
of sale, in cities and suburbs. The more irradiation facilities, the
greater the likelihood of accidental radiation release, worker exposure
and long-term environmental contamination. Everyone will be affected.
- Irradiation can create new chemical compounds called radiolytic
products. The effect of these radiolytic products, if eaten over a long
period of time, has have never been studied. Vegetarians who eat unlabeled
irradiated foods will never know if the irradiated food is affecting their
health.
- Irradiated foods lose vitamins. These losses will not be obvious
or expected by the consumer of fresh fruits and vegetables.
- Plants will be genetically engineered for radiation tolerance.
These special seeds will be patented, increasing the centralization of our
food supply.
- Irradiation is not currently legal for organic foods. But in a
few years, once public concern for organic standards dies down and
irradiation is in widespread use for conventional foods without a labeling
requirement, the FDA will quietly allow organic foods to be irradiated.
You can count on it.
- Food irradiation is largely about protecting the profitability
of the factory farming system. Irradiation would give factory farming and
inhumane slaughterhouses a few more years of profit before
irradiation-resistant bacteria put meat irradiators out of business.
Without irradiation, these meat marketers would have to face up to the
consequences of their dirty business sooner.
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Submit written comments on why labeling is needed and the wording to the
Dockets Management Branch (HFA-305), Food and Drug Administration, 5630
Fishers Lane, rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852. YOU MUST INCLUDE:
Docket # 98N-1038, "Irradiation in the Production, Processing, and Handling of Food"

See the action alert at http://www.purefood.org/irradlink.html to participate.