follow-up to food irradiation question

["Thatcher, Drew" <dht0303@hub.doh.wa.gov>]

 There appears to be enough questions about the viability of this 
particular issue that I contacted Dr. Michael Doyle (the researcher) at 
the U of Ga directly.  A summary of his work plus some answers other 
questions are as follows:

The cattle digestive tract contains many strains of bacteria, only one of 
which is a serious pathogen for humans, the 0157 strain.  The bacterial 
breakdown of cellulose is a significant source of energy for herbivorous 
animals.  In calve feedlot studies Dr. Doyle was able to completely 
remove the bad 0157 strain in a matter of a few weeks (the benign strain 
apparently attacks the 0157 strain).  He indicated that the reseach 
needed to continue to investigate a number of issues.  As far as cost of 
implementation he believed it would cost very little.  By eliminating the 
harmful strain early in the process, it would (in theory) remove the 
problem in the processing plant, the home, etc.  

Not knowing anything more about this than what I have learned today, it 
would seem that this merits further research as a possible solution to a 
problem.  Food irradiation may still offer other advantages as it would 
remove other contaminants in the process as well.  I hope all interested 
found this addtional bit of information useful.

Regards/  Drew Thatcher

                  ***** Original Message Follows *****

At 11:23 AM 12/15/97 -0600, you wrote:
>An individual against food irridation and I have been trading "letters 
to 
>the editor" in the Seattle PI.  Her latest letter makes the statement 
>that since E. coli is the cause of not just meat contamination but a 
>number of fruits and vegetables (throught runoff, manure as fertilizer, 
>cross contamination, etc.).  As a result,  meat irradiation alone will 
>not solve the answer and a larger solution needs to be determined.   The 

>individual has mentioned a researcher from the University of Georgia who 

>believes the answer may be in adding a benign, competitive bacteria to 
>cattle feed to crowd out the detrimental bacteria.

I am no expert, but I thought e-coli was a necessary bacteria for the
digestion of food by cattle.  If you were to introduce a benign bacteria 
to
the feed wouldn't you be causing the cattle a few problems?  It seems to 
me
that cattle are perfectly happy with e-coli in their system.

The key to the whole irradiation debate seems to be that irradiation 
won't
solve all the problems.  Who cares?  If it solves some of the problems 
and
doesn't cause any new ones it's better than not doing anything.

Todd Maxwell, RRPT
The Scripps Research Institute
Environmental Health and Safety
10550 North Torrey Pines Road
La Jolla, Calif. 92037
toddmax@scripps.edu