The most safe and effective means of killing food-borne pathogens is through irradiation, the use of ionizing energy. Once raw meat is pasteurized by irradiation at a high enough level, life-threatening bacteria such as E. coli are eliminated. And the same technique is used to treat such foods as onions, fish, wheat, cereal grains and spices in more than 40 other countries. Japan alone irradiates 15,000 to 20,000 tons of potatoes each year to inhibit spoilage due to sprouting. The most common complaint about irradiation, that it makes food radioactive, is simply false.
Irradiation makes food radioactive no more than a dental X-ray makes teeth radioactive.
The U.S. government has approved the use of irradiation on pork, to control trichina, and on poultry, to curb salmonella. But its approval for beef has been held up at the Food and Drug Administration for more than three years. Food producers thus fear that consumers will reject irradiated products. Yet none of these groups can point to reliable scientific evidence supporting their contentions. If we are serious about avoiding future cases of food-borne illness and death as well as such significant food waste, it is time for all of us to stop responding to the scaremongers.