Re: food irradiation

[Kwan Hoong Ng <kng1@facstaff.wisc.edu>]

Franz has given a very wonderful advice to us all. Excellent!
Kwan


At 05:04 PM 12/12/96 -0600, you wrote:
>At 12:33 12.12.1996 -0600, you wrote:
>>I think that the message is clear that Hormel would like lots of positive
>>calls to their toll-free number. For those of us who are not food safety
>>experts, how about a technical discussion (with references) concerning the
>>pro's and con's of food irradiation?
>>
>>====================================================================
>
>I am very surprised and disappointed to read that quite a few radsafers
>react in the question of food irradiation in a way which reminds me on green
>activists - supporting with all might an opinion without having paid any
>attention to contra arguments. What is the use of a "poll"(?) when a kind of
>a lobby asks to call a company to support some way of processing food, which
>- as far as I recall - the company did not even confirm that it will use it? 
>
>An organized action to support a company with telephone calls is not the way
>scientific experts usually choose. To make it clear: My personal opinion is
>that everything has been done to ensure that radiation treatment of food
>does not pose any harm. The IAEA and the WHO have published enough arguments
>and research to support this view. I have never read any scientific article
>to confirm any health problems associated with radiation treatment, I have
>always heard about "confirmation of hazards" from several groups, but I have
>never obtained any reference to this "scientific work". So my position is
>clear,  b u t  I think also that it must be the right of everybody to
>decide, not to consume irradiated food!!! Whatever the reasons might be. The
>question seems to be the labelling of irradiated food. If it is not
>labelled, then the consumer has no choice. If it is labelled, some people
>would decide to preferentially buy it, some will refuse. I think that this
>is the right of the consumer. As I noticed in US supermarkets, the Jewish
>citizens can select kosher food, because it is clearly declared kosher.
>Everywhere there has to be a declaration of the content in cans and so the
>Muslim citizens can have a look, whether a certain product contains pork! So
>why should it not be possible for someone, who does not want to eat
>irradiated food to make his/her choice?
>
>The question, which in my opinion is the most crucial in our Western world,
>is simply: Do we  n e e d   irradiated food? Is it necessary to extend shelf
>life? We have so excellent distribution chains, where food is always kept at
>low temperature, we have excellent logistics. I do not believe that
>extension of shelf life is an argument which could be used in the Western
>world - it might be a striking one in developing countries. Is it advisable
>to decontaminate spices from salmonella and similar contamination? Yes it is
>- for instance the Finnish government has explicitely allowed application of
>food irradiation with regard to spices. Is it advisable to treat poultry
>with radiation to kill salmonella? It might be in cases with heavy
>infestion, but even in this case it would be advisable to strenghthen
>hygiene instead of irradiating.
>
>In developing countries, where up to two third of the harvest is destroyed
>by insects, application of ionizing radiation for insect infestion control
>might be essential.
>
>I tried to give some examples of pro and tried to express that in my opinion
>the cases of application should be carefully considered and justified. 
>
>Please, radsafers, respect other people's opinion, and if you do not share
>them, discuss and try patiently to get them to accept your opinion or rather
>scientific evidence. Never tell them that they are stupid because they have
>another opinion - then you will never get them to accept your scientifically
>based arguments!
>
>Franz
>Schoenhofer
>Habichergasse 31/7
>A-1160 WIEN
>AUSTRIA/EUROPE
>Tel./Fax:	+43-1-4955308
>Tel.:		+43-664-3380333
>e-mail:		schoenho@via.at
>
>
Kwan Hoong Ng, PhD
Department of Medical Physics
University of Wisconsin
1530 Medical Sciences Center
1300 University Avenue
Madison, WI 53706
Tel: 608 263 4355, Fax: 608 262 2413

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