The food and nuclear industries, with strong government support, have capitalized on recent outbreaks of E.coli 0157 food poisoning to mobilize public acceptance of food irradiation. Furthermore, the new labeling initiative is reckless.
Irradiated meat is very different from cooked meat.
Whether irradiated by linear accelerators, pelletized radioactive isotopes or X-ray machines, the resulting ionizing radiation produces highly reactive free radicals and peroxides from unsaturated fats. U.S. Army analyses in 1977 revealed major differences between volatile chemicals formed during irradiation or cooking meat. Levels of the carcinogen benzene in radiated beef were some tenfold higher than cooked beef. Based on these striking changes in the chemistry of irradiated meat, FDA s 1980 Irradiated Food Committee warned that safety testing should be based on concentrated extracts of irradiated foods, rather than on whole foods, to maximize the concentration of radiolytic products. This would enable development of sufficient sensitivity essential for routine safety testing.