FOOD IRRADIATION: What are the hazards?

 

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                  Taken from KeelyNet BBS (214) 324-3501

                       Sponsored by Vangard Sciences

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                              March 11, 1990

    This is an article sent to Vangard Sciences by Ms. Hetty Quarrella

    from Michigan.   Hetty  has  worked closely with Hannah Kroger and

    has been researching the hazards  associated  with the consumption

    of irradiated food.

    Most foodstores sell foods that have been through  the irradiation

    process.   Manufacturers and  suppliers  are  required  by  law to

    indicate on the  label  if  a  food  has  been  treated  with  the

    irradiation process.

                                                          R.B.

                  FOOD IRRADIATION: What are the hazards?

         It has  been  known for decades that gamma radiation  can  be

    used to preserve  foods.   Studies of the effectiveness and safety

    of food irradiation  are  far from  new.   Some  of  the  problems

    observed with food irradiation include the following.

         There is  evidence  suggesting that genetic and  reproductive

    irregularities may be   associated   with   the   consumption   of

    irradiated food.   In one study,  children  and animals fed newly-

    irradiated wheat showed  a  cell abnormality called  "polyploidy,"

    where cells contain  more than their normal set of chromosomes. In

    another, rodents fed irradiated  onions  have  ovaries  or  testes

    which differed significantly  in  weight  from  those  of  control

    animals.

         A March,  1984  report  prepared  for  the U.S. Department of

    Agriculture on 12 studies using irradiated chicken meat concluded,

            "Two of the studies... had  some possible adverse findings

             which will  require  careful  consideration   before  the

             process can be declared safe."

         Mice fed  irradiated  chicken in one study showed an increase

    in testicular tumors, lesions including  cancer,  kidney  disease,

    and reduced  life  spans.   Another  study found a radiation-dose-

    related increase in deaths among offspring of flies fed irradiated

    chicken.

         Aflatoxins, potent   cancer-causing   chemicals   created  by

    funguses occurring naturally in  some  foods,  were  produced more

    abundantly than normal on irradiated foods in several studies. The

    exact reasons and   overall   health  effects  are   unknown   but

    aflatoxins are 1,000 times more potent carcinogens than the banned

    pesticide EDB, for which irradiation is a possible substitute.

         Vitamins A,  C,  E,  and especially B may be destroyed by the

    process; amino acids and fats in  foods may also be altered.   The

    effect of irradiation on food nutrients is probably  comparable to

    that of heat sterilization processes, but if widespread use of

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    irradiation is allowed, many foods may be subject to more than one

    preservative process before they reach the consumer (fruit may be

    irradiated to keep  it  from  spoiling  before  being  canned, for

    example). This could mean a decline  in the nutritional quality of

    our food supply overall.

         Bacteria and  viruses  can develop resistance  to  radiation,

    just as insects  do  to  pesticides.    So  the  effectiveness  of

    irradiation as a preservative over  the  long  term  is not known.

    Radiation can also cause dangerous mutations and  the  development

    of new strains of pest organisms.

         Irradiation does not protect food from contamination that may

    occur after the treatment, unless it is tightly sealed at the time

    of irradiation. For fruits and vegetables, other long-term methods

    of preservation, such as canning, freezing, or refrigeration, will

    probably still be needed.

         Fruit treated  with  radiation  may  become brown or mushy or

    ripen abnormally.  Irradiated citrus fruits will bruise easily and

    black spots may appear on the peel.  Meats must be irradiated in a

    vacuum, since irradiation  in  the   presence   of  oxygen  causes

    rancidity in fat-containing foods.   Clear glass  turns brown when

    irradiated; food irradiated   in  sealed  plastic  containers  may

    develop a bitter, metallic after-taste.

         Chemicals called "radiolytic  products" are produced in foods

    by the radiation process.   These include formaldehyde,  peroxide,

    and others.   The  U.S.  Food  and  Drug Administration, in a 1980

    report, stated that foods irradiated  at  levels  greater than 100

    kilorads

            "may contain  enough  (radiolytic  products)   to  warrant

             toxicological evaluation."

    Levels of radiation that high and higher are necessary to preserve

    many foods."

                      HOW DOES FOOD IRRADIATION WORK?

         In food  irradiation  facilities,  streams of gamma radiation

    from radioactive cobalt-60 (half-life:  5.3  years)  or cesium-137

    (half-life: 30.2 years)  are  directed  through the  foods.    The

    fruits, vegetables, grains  or  meats  do  NOT  become radioactive

    themselves, but some of their cells are altered by the radiation.

         DNA, the "blueprint" for cell  division which is contained in

    all living cells, is damaged by the gamma rays.   The more complex

    the organism, the   larger   and   more   radiation-sensitive  its

    molecules of DNA, and thus the less radiation required to keep its

    cells from dividing.    Small doses  (100  kilorads)  can  prevent

    onions and potatoes from sprouting and sterilize  or kill insects;

    larger dosed (1,000   kilorads  or  more)  are  required  to  kill

    bacteria and viruses.

                             PLAYING WITH FIRE

         Microorganisms can develop resistance to radiation over time

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    - and some are naturally more resistant than others.  For example,

    irradiating chicken to  kill  salmonella bacteria may not harm the

    hardier bacteria which causes botulism, so that it is free to grow

    uncontested.   But the other microorganisms  which gradually would

    cause the meat  to  smell  or look spoiled may be  killed  by  the

    irradiation process.    Fish  or  chicken meat that is dangerously

    contaminated with botulism could thus appear to be harmless.

                                   Submitted by: Ronald Barker

                                                 Vangard Sciences

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    We wish to  thank  Hetty for sharing  this  information  with  our

    KeelyNet.  Hetty and Ron have been actively associated with Hannah

    Kroger for many years.  Ron was raised in Michigan  and  moved  to

    Texas several years  ago.   He has many associates and contacts in

    the Michigan area  who have shown  an  interest  in  the  work  of

    Vangard Sciences            and            the           KeelyNet.

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    Thank you for  your  support  and contributions to help defray the

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                                  FINIS

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