Food irradiation is a process where food is exposed to high levels of radiation in order to kill bacteria and extend shelf life for up to 35 days. While proponents of the process state that irradiation will make food safer, no one really knows the health impacts of eating irradiated food. New chemicals called unique radiolytic products are created in the irradiation process and no testing has been done to identify these chemicals, much less to determine if they are safe. Known carcinogens such as Benzene and Toluene are also produced by irradiation. Corporate agribusiness has convinced the government to abandon its protective role, allowing companies like Wal-Mart to use food irradiation to extend the shelf life of meat beyond what is appropriate and mask the unhygienic conditions in which animals are raised, slaughtered and processed.
Most American consumers share the views expressed at the news conference.
A 1999 poll commissioned by the American Association of Retired Persons and Center for Science in the Public Interest found that 88.6 percent of Americans want labels to indicated food has been irradiated. A 1997 CBS News poll found that 77 percent of Americans would not buy irradiated food. Another problem with irradiated meat is the threat to small farmers in the United States as well as around the globe. Family farmers and small food producers are finding it impossible to compete economically with corporate factory farms. The extended shelf life resulting from irradiation will enable foreign meat producers to drive the small American farmer out of business.