Food Safety's Waiting Weapon

[Andy Hull <hull@mail.sep.bnl.gov>]

On the Op-Ed page of today's (8/28) New York Times, Richard Rhodes makes an
eloquent positive case for food irradiation. His punch line is perhaps:

The solution to the problem of food poisoning-whether the food involved is
hamburger, strawberries, raspberries, cider or some other product
susceptible to bacterial contamination-has been sitting on the shelf for
most of 40 years while hundreds of Americans have been sickened and
thousands have died. It is the equivalent of pasteurization, and its neglect
is a disgrace."

He concludes with the statement that the "fanatic resistance (to food
irradiation) is similar  to that which plagued the introduction of
vaccination, water chlorination, pasteurization and fluoridation-comparable
technologies that have reduced disease and saved millions of lives" and
attributes it to the "unsupported fears of the Luddite opposition".

Andy Hull
S%EP-BNL
Upton, NY 11973
Ph. 516-344-4210
Fax 516-344-3105