Re: AW: Food Irradiation Alert - Sierra Club of Canada

["Richard L. Hess" <lists@richardhess.com>]

At 07:43 PM 11/30/2002 +0100, Franz Schoenhofer wrote:

 
While I agree wíth you on the  question whether all use of radioactive material is the target of certain groups and that they want to prohibit it, I do not agree on the use of food irradiation. This topic comes up at RADSAFE frequently. I support any activities to save food in the developing countries by irradiating it and saving it from being destroyed by pests. What I do not support is the clearly uttered interest of some companies in the U'SA to maximize their profits by marketing food, which otherwise would not be possible to be marketized, because it is infested by salmonella and other - deadly - bacteria. Yes, I write "deadly bacteria".

I clearly oppose  it, when it comes to "extended shelf live". This is an argument, which is in sharp contrast with the world wide opinion that food should be as fresh as possible. If Americans accept that foods shelf life is extended by radiation - please do it. Nobody in Europe will accept it - simply because there is no need for it. We have excellent ways to ship oysters, fish, crabs, etc.  to any destination within Europe. The price is accordingly. If you do not want to pay the price for fresh oysters - leave it and eat a McDonalds hamburger instead - in Europe this would be a kind of insunuaion.

Food irradiation is ok, if it helps peoples to escape famine. It is a crime, if it is intended to maximise profits of world wide acting companies.

 

Franz

Hi, Franz,


Do you oppose irradiation to extend shelf life and "maximise the

profits of world wide acting companies" because while irradiation is

good to help reduce famine, it still is detrimental to the

taste/texture/perceived quality of the food?


What is the difference in your mind between irradiation and the other

methods of extending food shelf life all over the world such as:

refrigeration, freezing, freeze-drying, dehydrating, pickling?


Thank you!


Richard