FDA approves food irradiation, 1988

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FOOD IRRADIATION BUSINESS

         The food industry is going high-tech with a seemingly innocent
    procedure called irradiation -- a process that delays ripening by
    exposing food to radioactive materials that kill insects, mold, and
    bacteria.
         Critics point out that irradiation may produce food products that
    at best have lower nutritional value; at worst are carcinogenic.
    Irradiation also poses significant health threats to workers and the
    public in transportation, storage, and disposal of radioactive waste.
    And there is real concern over the safety of radioactive devices used
    in food, beverage, cosmetic, and drug industries.
         While spices are the first irradiated edibles marketed in the
    U.S., the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also has approved
    irradiation for use on produce and some meats. Interestingly, the FDA
    regulates irradiation not as a process but as an additive.
         The question, of course, is exactly what is "added" to irradiated
    food? Irradiated food looks and smells better for an extended time,
    but little is known about the chemical changes induced by the process.
         One science writer posed the complex issues when he asked "What
    do you get when you irradiate an apple with 100,000 rads of gamma
    rays.  Is that irradiation a process or an additive?  Who should
    control it?  Does it pose a carcinogenic threat to humans? Since it
    reduces food spoilage and replaces dangerous pesticides, is it a
    blessing for the world's hungry?"  And then he asked, "Why are there
    no answers to these questions?"
         Meanwhile, the track record in irradiation facilities is anything
    but reassuring.  The Radiation Technology plant in Far Rockaway, New
    Jersey, was closed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for
    willfully supplying false information about repeated safety
    violations; the NRC also shut down International Neutronics in Dover,
    New Jersey, after workers reported a coverup of a radioactive spill of
    a tank of water containing cobalt-60 rods; and workers in Isomedix
    Co., Parsippany, New Jersey, were told to clean up leaks by pouring
    radioactive water down bathroom toilets and sinks.
         Earlier this year, the NRC suspended the use of an industrial
    air-purifying device that leaked tiny particles of radioactive
    polonium at plants around the nation. The NRC also order 3M to recall
    for inspection all 45,000 of the ionizing air guns used to control
    static electricity and remove dust from product containers. Of 828
    plants inspected so far, contamination was found at 118 sites; of
    those, the radiation exceeded the reportable limit of .005 microcuries
    in 39 plants. Subsequently, the NRC recalled 2,500 3M units used in
    the food, beverage, cosmetic and drug industries.
         Given the potential problems, one would expect to find the
    irradiation issue on the national media agenda; but it isn't.
    Meanwhile, as serious questions go unanswered, the government has
    proposed federal regulations that would allow more irradiation.

         SOURCES: UTNE READER, May/June 1987, "Irradiation Business Gears
    Up," by Karin Winegar, pp 29-30; SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER SPECTRA,
    2/25/88, "Food Irradiation,"  by Rick Weiss, pp E1-E2, reprinted from
    SCIENCE NEWS; S. F. EXAMINER (AP), 2/19/88, "Ionizing guns recalled
    over radiation fear," p A5.
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