Food Irradiation - Consumer Reports

[Joyce Davis <JOYCED@DNFSB.GOV>]

The March 1998 issue of Consumer Reports has an
interesting article on Chicken:  How Safe?  How Tasty?,  that
mainly addresses the issue of bacteria in chicken meat. 
Marring what seems to be an unbiased article is a reference
to irradiation that I quote:
" While it may be useful, irradiation isn't a panacea.  It could
lead to unwanted public-health and environmental side
effects, and it's not clear that it's economically competitive
with other alternatives. As former USDA official Carol Tucker
Foreman puts it, irradiation is not ' a substitute for taking
propoer sanitation measures in processing plants.  After all,
sterilized poop is still poop'".
Given the high status of Consumer Reports with many US
consumers, this lightly tossed off comment about unwanted
health effects may carry a lot of weight.  
I haven't checked it but the CU website is listed as 
www.ConsumerReports.org.   Their data are available there
for a price. 
 HPs may want to set CU straight.

Only the opinion of
J. P. Davis
joyced@dnfsb.gov