In the same year, a worker received a dose of radiation considered lethal for 70 percent of the population. Prompt hospital treatment saved his life. Not a Silver Bullet Irradiation poses serious risks, and it still does not ensure safe meat. Although it kills most bacteria, it does not destroy the toxins created in the early stages of contamination. And it also kills beneficial bacteria which produce odors indicating spoilage and naturally control the growth of harmful bacteria.
Irradiation also stimulates aflatoxin production.
Aflatoxin occurs naturally in humid areas and tropical countries in fungus spores and on grains and vegetables. In addition, irradiation will likely have a mutagenic effect on bacteria and viruses that survive exposure. Mutated survivors could be resistant to antibiotics and could evolve into more virulent strains. Radiation-resistant strains of salmonella have already been developed under laboratory conditions, and scientists at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge have found that one bacteria occurring in spoiled meat and animal feces can survive a radiation dose five times what the FDA will eventually approve for beef. The bacteria, which scientists speculate evolved to survive extreme conditions of dehydration, survived the radiation exposure.