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RE Food Irradiation
Group,
Please accept my comments as well intentioned suggestions. In other words,
no flames please.
I have not followed the thread too closely. But I do recall some saying
that irradiation should not be used to increase profit or shelf life.
Why not? I attended a local chapter [NCCHPS] meeting many years ago on
irradiation and that was one benefit mentioned. Take tomatoes. Why do the
ones from the store usually taste so inferior to home grown? Because
they're picked green to facilitate handling, and then ripened chemically.
That's why the term "vine ripened" is used in advertising, because it
usually means superior taste.
What is wrong with picking the tomatoes when they are practically ripe,
packaging them and purging the container and sealing it with either nitrogen
or an inert gas and then irradiating them. BTW, I'm not sure about the gas
or if tomatoes was one of the produce items mentioned, I just know they
never taste that good unless they are from a home garden. I'd be willing to
pay an extra 25% to get them if they taste as good as those from my
neighbor's garden. I have neither the time or inclination to grow my own
vegetables. Isn't irradiated milk, sold at room temperature and stored that
way till opened available today in Europe?
Everyone is free to choose to buy irradiated products or not, paying the
higher price for perceived benefits, increased safety, better taste or
longer shelf life.
Increasing profits is part of the free market system. It shouldn't be done
at the expense of safety. But is anyone out there really saying irradiation
isn't safe? If it is safe for sterilization and safety reasons is it not
safe for increasing shelf life, improving flavor or other reasons that would
translate into increased profit for the companies that bring our food to
market?
Any opinions expressed are mine alone and do not necessarily represent those
of the Denver VA Medical Center, The Department of Veterans Affairs, or the
U.S. Government.
Peter G. Vernig
Radiation Safety Officer, VA Medical Center, 1055 Clermont St. Denver, CO
80220, ATTN; RSO MS 115
303-399-8020 ext. 2447, peter.vernig@med.va.gov [alternate
vernig.peter@forum.va.gov] Fax 303-393-5026 [8 - 4:30 MT service] Alternate
Fax 303-377-5686
"...whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right,, whatever is
pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is found to be
excellent or praiseworthy, let your mind dwell on these things." Paul
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