Re: Food poisoning

[carol marcus <csmarcus@ucla.edu>]

At 12:39 PM 9/20/99 -0500, you wrote:
>The following are compelling statistics to support radiation processing
>of food, though it's not mentioned in the article:
>
>STUDY PUTS U.S. FOOD-POISONING TOLL AT 76 MILLION YEARLY
>from The New York Times
>
>WASHINGTON -- Although the United States has one of the
>safest food supplies in the world, about 76 million Americans
>suffer food poisoning each year and about 5,000 die from it, the Federal
>Government said on Thursday.
>
>The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta said the
>estimates
>in a study it released today were the most complete ever compiled on
>food-borne illnesses (the agency avoided the everyday term "food
>poisoning")
>and were based on many sources, including death certificates, hospital
>surveys and academic studies.
>
>"These new estimates provide a snapshot of the problem and do not
>measure
>trends and do not indicate that the problem is getting better or worse,"
>Dr.
>Jeffrey Koplan, the centers director, said in a statement.
><http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/science/health/091799hth-food.html>
>-- 
>In my personal opinion, SLG
>==================================================
>Susan L. Gawarecki, Ph.D., Executive Director
>Oak Ridge Reservation Local Oversight Committee, Inc.
>136 South Illinois Avenue, Suite 208
>Oak Ridge, Tennessee  37830
>Phone (423) 483-1333; Fax (423) 482-6572; E-mail loc@icx.net
>VISIT OUR UPDATED WEB SITE:  http://www.local-oversight.org
>==================================================
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Dear Radsafers:

I am, of course, in favor of food irradiation, but not all "food poisoning"
is caused by live bacteria.  Much of it, perhaps even most of it, is caused
by toxins produced by the bacteria before they were cooked to death.  The
toxins are not significantly changed by cooking, and would not be
radiosensitive, either.

Just a clarification.

Ciao, Carol

Carol S. Marcus, Ph.D., M.D.
<csmarcus@ucla.edu>

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