Irradiated meat used in other products such as sausages and bologna must also be labeled. For unpackaged meat products that do not have labels, the statement and logo must be displayed at the point of sale to consumers. Products purchased through foodservice operations, such as restaurants, will not be labelled. The USDA plan will take effect in late February. But critics of irradiated foods such as the Minnesota based BioDemocracy and Organic Consumers Association says that changes occur in taste, odor, color, and texture of irradiated foods and irradiation may create dangers of its own.
Irradiated fats tend to become rancid.
Ionizing radiation is so powerful that it knocks electrons out of atoms and creates free radicals, the group and other critics claim. Studies on animals fed irradiated foods have shown increased tumors, reproductive failures and kidney damage, the group claims. Illinova Corporation, an energy services company headquartered in Illinois, pledged the funds to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to reforest more than 100,000 acres in the Lower Mississippi River Valley over the next five years. It means that all of the present reforestation needs on national wildlife refuges and other public lands in the Lower Mississippi Valley are taken care of, and at no expense to the taxpayer. It's a great day for conservation.