Information on Food Irradiation
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Links
Public
Citizen's Critical Mass Energy Project
Articles, background, action alerts, reports and scientific evidence
against irradiation. Highly recommended.
The
Government Accountability Project
helps whistleblowers and exposes the consequences of deregulation
in the meat industry. Has reports about the failures of federal oversight
of meat production.
The Corporate
Agribusiness Research Project (CARP)
Electronic newsletter about corporate agribusiness and farm issues.
Great source for detailed news about the meat/poultry industry. 2-3
issues/month.
NIRS (Nuclear Information
and Research Service)
One-stop source for information on nuclear energy, its uses, its effects,
expert opinion, fact sheets, news reports, etc. Nonprofit public interest
group.
The Humane
Farming Association
Against factory farming. Good pamphlets on treatment of factory farmed
animals. Sells the book Slaughterhouse.
FARM (Farm Animal
Reform Movement)
Education about factory farming and for animals.
Heart
of America Northwest
a regional nonprofit public interest organization focused on the clean-up
of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, transportation of nuclear waste
to the Northwest, and other hazardous waste issues. Opposes reopening
the Hanford, Washington, nuclear reactor, which is still being considered.
One use is to make cobalt-60 for food irradiation.
Irradiated Food
Irradiated fruits and vegetables benefit the packer and grocer, not the farmer or consumer. The consumer receives an inferior product that appears fresh, but has depleted vitamins and enzymes.
Action Alert
FDA Approves Irradiated Lettuce and Spinach
Make your voice heard! Click here to send the FDA a message during the 30-Day Comment Period.
Articles and books
March 11, 2002: Opinion: Food Irradiation Threatens Public Health, National Security, by Samuel Epstein, M.D.
"Why vegetarians should care about meat/poultry irradiation".
Which foods can be irradiated? What are the labeling requirements?
Information on electron-beam irradiation.
An introduction to free radicals, which are created by irradiation.
November 22, 2000: FAQ about the Codex Alimentarius, the international authority that sets the standards for global trade in food..
Our analysis of the FDA's "official" pro-irradiation brochure.
Alternatives to irradiation for different foods and news about promising technologies.
Simple explanation of irradiation for small children.
The health costs of low-level ionizing radiation.
The problem with risk assessment (the statistical method and philosophy the FDA used to decide that irradiation is 'safe' for fruits and vegetables. It's also used for nearly all regulatory decisions in the U.S.)
Irradiation kills/deactivates the digestive enzymes in raw foods: information on enzymes. An alternative scientific view supporting raw food because of its vitamins, not its enzymes.
Irradiation supports the environmentally unsustainable and inhumane system of factory animal production. For information on factory farming, begin with the Global Resource Action Center on the Environment (GRACE) and the Humane Farming Association. Also see Books below.
Compare the radura (the symbol that means food has been irradiated) with the Environmental Protection Agency's eco-friendly symbol!
June 20, 2000: Why we don't trust transport of nuclear materials - an unsolicited anecdote.
May 2, 2000: The current FDA regulation on labeling.
April 6, 2000: Some groups and companies in the food industry that want to use irradiation.
January 27, 1999 - A history of worker exposure in irradiation facilities worldwide.
Archival Hawaii stop-irradiation page
October 9, 2002: Public Citizen surveys the history of approval of irradiation, "World Health Organization Ignored Hazards of Irradiated Foods, Declared Them Safe." The full report (PDF).
April 11, 2001: SteriGenics: The Untold History of a global food irradiation company.
September 11, 2000: Important historical article: How sh-t in your diet is connected to the deregulation of the poultry industry, and the role of prominent "consumer" representative Carol Tucker Foreman, sister of a former governor of Arkansas, home of Tyson Foods.
Spring 1999 - Background articles from the journal Food & Water
February 23, 1999 - Agribusiness Examiner article on irradiation
The Food That Would Last Forever, by Dr. Gary Gibbs. $14.95 Canadian.
Food Irradiation, Who Wants It?, the definitive 1987 book by Tony Webb, Tim Lang & Kathleen Tucker. $5.95 Canadian. Purchase both books from Health Action Network Society. Call toll-free 1-888-432-HANS or email Michelle. Shipping charges apply.
Excerpts from Food Irradiation, Who Wants It?
The Biology of Food Irradiation, by David R. Murray (Taunton, Somerset, England: Research Studies Press Ltd., distributed in the US by New York: John Wiley & Sons Inc., 1990). A detailed, scientific case against irradiation.
Is irradiation "like a
TV "? "Like
a microwave"?
Judge for yourself.
They say you can buy organic if you don't want to eat irradiated food. Organic production is the ideal, but it's not available everywhere. We want the nonorganic food supply to be safe and environmentally sustainable as well.
IRRADIATION FAQ
- Long FAQ in Rich Text Format (rtf)
- Short FAQ: What's wrong with food irradiation (rtf)
- Short FAQ with references (rtf)
- 2 page version of FAQ w/o references-for handouts (rtf)
- Supplemental FAQ
About OCA and its sources and position on irradiation. - The Status of Food Irradiation: which foods can be irradiated, locations of irradiation facilities, responsible US government agencies, etc. (rtf)
- Which foods can be irradiated? What are the labeling requirements?
Basic Handouts
Irradiation Headlines
- 02/25/10 - American Meat Institute Is Pushing Irradiation as the Solution to E. coli
- 10/07/09 - Thoughts on Irradiated Food
- 09/27/09 - Irradiated Foods Cause MS in 3 Months
- 06/01/09 - 50-Year-Old Agreement Prevented the WHO From Telling the Truth About Radiation
- 04/28/09 - Study of the Week: Cats Fed Irradiated Food During Gestation Develop Severe Neurologic Disease
- 04/25/09 - Irradiated Food Causes Brain Damage
- 02/03/09 - New York Times Shills for Irradiation to Solve Food Safety Issues
- 09/07/08 - US News & World Report Covers the Irradiation Controversy
- 08/25/08 - Action Alert: FDA Approves Irradiated Lettuce and Spinach: Make your voice heard! Click here to send the FDA a message during the 30-Day Comment Period
- 08/25/08 - FDA Plots to Mislead Consumers Over Irradiated Foods
- 08/25/08 - OCA & CFS Slam FDA's Bogus Move to Irradiate Lettuce & Spinach
- 08/22/08 - FDA Unleashes Mass Irradiation of Spinach, Lettuce and Other Vegetables
- 08/21/08 - FDA: Irradiating Spinach, Lettuce OK to Kill Germs
- 07/12/08 - FDA Tomato Poisoning Fiasco: Preparation for Irradiating Vegetables?
- 06/17/08 - Nuclear Lobby Says Tainted Tomatoes Mean We Should Nuke All Our Food
- 04/15/08 - The Food Irradiation Plot: Why the USDA Wants to Sterilize Fresh Produce and Turn Live Foods into Dead Foods
- 04/15/08 - USDA Promoting Irradiation of Foods and Ignoring Consumer Concerns
- 12/21/07 - ACTION ALERT: Say NO to the Irradiation of Supplements
- 12/14/07 - FDA Plots To Dissolve Labelling Requirement For Irradiated Foods
- 08/07/07 - USDA Demand that Raw Almonds Be Pasteurized Drives Consumers Nuts
- 07/23/07 - FDA Move to Stop Requiring Labels on Irradiated Foods Generates Controversy
- 07/03/07 - Nuclear & Agribusiness Cabal Work with FDA To Force-Feed Unlabeled Irradiated Food to Consumers
- 05/04/07 - U.S. Accepts First Irradiated Fruit Imports
- 04/23/07 - Do You Know What Pasteurization and Irradiation Really Mean?
- 04/20/07 - FDA Seeks To Remove Labeling Requirements For Irradiated Foods
- 04/14/07 - NBC's Food Editor Agrees with OCA and Cornucopia's Opposition to FDA's New Rule Requiring 'Raw' Almonds to be Pasteurized
- 04/14/07 - More Info on FDA Proposing Loosening Labeling Rules on Irradiated Foods
- 04/05/07 - FDA Considers Mislabeling Irradiated Food
- 04/05/07 - Bush Administration Proposes Easing Rules for Labeling Irradiated Foods
- 03/19/07 - Big Food Companies Still Trying to 'Nuke' Beef & Other Foods with Irradiation
- 01/30/07 - Today Show Airs Food Irradiation Industry Propaganda
- 12/20/06 - Wall Street Repeats Discredited Call to Irradiate U.S. Food
- 11/29/06 - Global Week of Action Against Food Irradiation
Contact Us
For media interviews, printed materials or references about food irradiation, or to get on our mailing list, contact the Organic Consumers Association. For a speaker, see our coalition's speakers list. We will notify you when the FDA requests comments on the new labeling requirements. (We will also notify you if, in the future, the USDA tries to allow irradiation in the definition of "organic.")
If you are writing a paper for school, the short What's Wrong with Food Irradiation? may answer your questions. A longer version is the Irradiation FAQ. Also look at the For Students page.
OCA is a member of the Global Safe Food Alliance. The Alliance is dedicated to sustainable agriculture and the production of safe food, and to stopping factory farming.
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