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RE: Article: Approval of Irradiated Sweet Potatoes Has Critics Steamed
>From the article, the problem is the importation of
two non-native agricultural pests on to the mainland;
the West Indian sweet potato weevil,
http://www.fftc.agnet.org/library/article/eb493b.html,
and the sweet potato stem borer (also known in
entomology circles as the sweet potato vine borer.)
I believe that both California and Hawaii have strick
enforcement on the importation of plants to prevent
non-native pests.
--- "George J. Vargo" <vargo@physicist.net> wrote:
> John, et al.,
>
> I thought that the irradiation of tubers was to
> prevent premature sprouting
> and enhance shelf life, as opposed to a pesticidal
> endpoint. As I recall,
> Canada has significant experience with irradiated
> white potatoes in
> commerce. Please confirm or disabuse me of that
> notion.
>
> A quick glance at Eichholz, Radioisotope Engineering
> (Marcel Dekker, 1972)
> (BTW-- that was a really great graduate course of
> the same title that I
> later took from him at GT), the dose to extend shelf
> life is relatively low
> and heavily dependent on water content. While
> tubers were not specifically
> listed in Table 6.10, mangos are listed as having a
> target dose of 0.025
> Mrad for extended storage life. Strawberries and
> oranges are listed as
> requiring 0.2 Mrad for shelf-life extension.
>
> George J. Vargo, Ph.D., CHP
> Senior Scientist
> MJW Corporation
> http://www.mjwcorp.com
> 610-925-3377
> 610-925-5545 (fax)
> vargo@physicist.net
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu
> [mailto:owner-radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu] On Behalf
> Of John R Johnson
> Sent: Tuesday, March 09, 2004 7:39 PM
> To: John Jacobus; radsafe; know_nukes
> Cc: Don Morrison (CR); Paul Unrau
> Subject: RE: Article: Approval of Irradiated Sweet
> Potatoes Has Critics
> Steamed
>
>
> Radsafers, Don and Paul
>
> Is there any information on what the pests do to
> these "spuds". Is the taste
> changed?
>
> I ask this because many years ago I took part in a
> test at the Chalk River
> Nuclear Labs. The test was to see if high doses of
> radiation would improve
> the taste of red wines. If I recall correctly,
> "horrible" wine was made
> "drinkable" if the doses were not too high. I don't
> recall the doses but the
> wines were irradiated with Co-60.
>
> _________________
> John R Johnson, Ph.D.
> *****
> President, IDIAS, Inc
> 4535 West 9-Th Ave
> Vancouver B. C.
> V6R 2E2
> (604) 222-9840
> idias@interchange.ubc.ca
> *****
> or most mornings
> Consultant in Radiation Protection
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> Fax: (604) 222-7309
> johnsjr@triumf.ca
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu
> [mailto:owner-radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu]On Behalf
> Of John Jacobus
> Sent: March 9, 2004 1:34 PM
> To: radsafe; know_nukes
> Subject: Article: Approval of Irradiated Sweet
> Potatoes Has Critics Steamed
>
>
> This appeared in today's Washington Post, and I
> thought it would be of interest.
> ---------------You have been sent this message from
> jjacobus@mail.nih.gov as
> a courtesy of washingtonpost.com
>
> Approval of Irradiated Sweet Potatoes Has Critics
> Steamed
>
> By Cindy Skrzycki
>
> The purple potato has caused a spud war.
>
> A recent decision by the U.S. Department of
> Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection
> Service to allow irradiation to kill pests in a
> special breed of sweet potato raised in Hawaii has
> left growers on the mainland trying to protect their
> crop and opponents of irradiation fuming.
>
> The fuss is over a tuber called the Okinawan sweet
> potato , which has light skin and lavender flesh
> and
> is of Chinese and Japanese origin. The potato is not
> well-known or easy to get on the mainland, except in
> specialty or ethnic markets on the West Coast. But
> now
> that an irradiation facility in Hilo, Hawaii, is
> treating the vegetable, it may one day come to a
> table
> near you -- though it might seem an unusual addition
> to a Thanksgiving repast.
>
> Last June, the Agriculture Department proposed
> allowing Hawaiian farmers to treat their potatoes
> with
> a high dose of radiation, as an alternative to
> methyl
> bromide fumigation -- a step that was required to
> allow entry of the crop onto the mainland. Both
> treatments are designed to eliminate pests found in
> Hawaii, such as the West Indian sweet potato weevil
> and the sweet potato stem borer (also known in
> entomology circles as the sweet potato vine borer).
>
> This was a relief to Hawaiian growers, who found it
> inconvenient and costly
> to ship their sweet potatoes to a fumigation
> facility on the island of Oahu.
> Plus, they had to pay overtime to have Agriculture
> Department inspectors
> present for treatments done after 4 p.m. or on
> weekends.
>
> Growers also faced the increasing cost and the
> eventual phaseout of methyl bromide under the terms
> of
> an international environmental agreement.
>
> In the recently issued final rule, the USDA
> reassured
> growers on the mainland that their production -- 1.3
> billion pounds annually -- dwarfs Hawaiian output,
> 1.8
> million pounds. The U.S. Sweet Potato Council in
> Columbia, S.C., looked at the same figures a
> different
> way. It said in comments to USDA: "Hawaiian
> production
> is a mere pittance . . . and therefore, Hawaii
> should
> be able to consume every sweet potato they produce
> and
> then some."
>
> Sweet potato consumption has been declining over
> the
> years. In 1932, when it was considered a poor man's
> food, Americans consumed 30 pounds each per year.
> Now,
> it's closer to 4 pounds, though the tuber has become
> more appealing because it's a favorite of Oprah
> Winfrey and television chef Emeril Lagasse.
>
> North Carolina is the No. 1 producer; the sweet
> potato is the official state vegetable.
>
> The USDA, which has approved 15 fruits and
> vegetables
> in Hawaii for the treatment, said the new rule has
> many benefits.
>
> It said irradiation costs less; growers would
> incur
> lower transportation costs; irradiation does not
> affect the quality of the crop as methyl bromide
> does;
> and the irradiation plant will have plenty of work
> since Okinawan sweet potatoes are a year-round crop.
>
> "A steady source of revenues from treatment, such
> as
> revenues from treating sweet potatoes to be moved
> interstate, would help assure this facility's
> continued operation and availability for all the
> producers in Hawaii who can use it," the rule said.
>
> The facility, called Hawaii Pride, opened in 2000
> and
> was financed by a $6.75 million loan, three-quarters
>
=== message truncated ===
=====
+++++++++++++++++++
""A fanatic is one who cannot change his mind and won't change the subject." Winston Churchill
-- John
John Jacobus, MS
Certified Health Physicist
e-mail: crispy_bird@yahoo.com
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