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RE: AW: Food Irradiation Alert - Sierra Club of Canada
I usually keep my mouth shut, but I really hate stuff like this. Profit is
used as such a bad word these days, especially if you are not the one making
it.
Look around boys and girls and you will see the world generated by profit.
The very item you are using to communicate so freely with each other, in
this blessed free society is generated by and reinforced to remain so by
profit. Our (the U.S.) military strength and superiority is the result of a
profit based economy. The taxes generated from our economy would probably
support all the other countries governments put together. Profit makes the
work go around in the correct direction. Profit lubricates the free
society.
Reducing losses in the market place increases profit, makes the company more
competitive, allows them to expand, hires more workers and spreads the
benefits of a profit generated product to more of the world. Do you think
the developing countries (used to be called third world) would be better
served by increasing waste? Grow up, wake up and smell the profits.
S. K. De Mers
Radiological Field Superintendent
-----Original Message-----
From: Franz Schoenhofer [mailto:franz.schoenhofer@CHELLO.AT]
Sent: Wednesday, December 04, 2002 4:21 PM
To: Richard L. Hess; BLHamrick@AOL.COM; RuthWeiner@AOL.COM;
radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu
Subject: AW: AW: Food Irradiation Alert - Sierra Club of Canada
-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
Von: Richard L. Hess [mailto:lists@richardhess.com]
Gesendet: Samstag, 30. November 2002 19:36
An: Franz Schoenhofer; BLHamrick@AOL.COM; RuthWeiner@AOL.COM;
radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu
Betreff: Re: AW: Food Irradiation Alert - Sierra Club of Canada
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?
-------------------------
Richard,
I think I have clearly stated, that irradiation is in my opinion not
necessary in our "Western world", because we have the possibility to ship
food fast enough that it reaches the consumer unspoiled and uninfested.
Infestion by for instance salmonella is in many cases unavoidable (Ruth
pointed correctly to chicken), but common sense tells people, not to eat raw
or half-cooked chicken and to wash hands after having prepared a meal is in
my opinion also common sense and wide used practice! I personally do not
like half-done food made from ground meat, so cooking the hamburgers
correctly eliminates any danger from salmonella in ground meat. We prefer in
Europe small businesses - simply because it provides work for much more
people - but if let's say a ton of ground meat is infested with salmonella
it does not matter so much, compared to hundreds of tons. Moreover the
regulations for ground meat and the controls are very strict in the European
Union. Europeans claim, that the European Union is overregulating everything
(like the curvation of cucumber is regulated....), but somehow this keeps
our food rather safe. Because of the small dimensions in case of a
salmonella outbreak, only a few people are affected.
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?
----------------------------------------------------
Yes, I think that there is a big difference. The methods of refrigeration,
freezing, smoking, drying and pickling are well developed since dozens and
hundreds of years. The technology is extremely wide-spread in the "Western
countries". (I remember that when I was young - a long time ago! - my family
did not own a refrigerator, not to talk about a freezer.) Pickling is
nowadays not only a matter of food conservation, but is mostly used to
produce certain food with distinctive flavour, as is smoking. But even at
the old times fruits, cabbage, lettuce etc. was available also during winter
time, because techniques were available since ages, to store them in cool
cellars after their harvest.
As a contrast: What is irradiation like? You need huge processing plants,
you need a very complicated logistic, you waste time to ship goods to the
irradiation plant and to ship it from there to the consumers - is this
extended shelf-life? You need enormous capital investments for these plants,
not to talk about the licensing procedures. I do not believe that the
marketing organisations pay these costs.....
Finally: I enjoy tropical fruits, especially when being in countries, where
they are freshly supplied to the markets. I have recently been four weeks in
Mexico and I really enjoyed the papayas, the melons, pineapples etc. But do
we really have to have these fruits in our countries? Can't we eat apples
and pears?
With my best regards,
Franz
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