Opponents of irradiation say:
Farmers have much to answer for other practices too, for example:
Or closer to home, The Englishman noted some time ago:
Having said all that, there is a certain obligation on us to accept current realities, however averse we are to them and it does have some truth to it that irradiation can help eliminate much of the trouble. And yet concerns remain:
The pro-irradiation lobby has now [Apr, 2008] produced yet another study aimed at the consumer directly:
The corollary is clear and of course google news produces this in the very next article. Highly suspicious, eh? I'm somewhere between the two myself but would like to know your opinion on this.
The best alternative to food irradiation to reduce pathogens is in good agricultural practices. For example, farmers and processing plants should improve sanitation practices, water used for irrigation and processing should be regularly tested for E. coli, and production plants should be routinely inspected.
Farmers have much to answer for other practices too, for example:
A potential contributor to this problem that has heretofore escaped serious public health scrutiny is the feeding of animal excrement to livestock, a common practice in some parts of the United States. In 1994, 18% of poultry producers in Arkansas collectively fed more than 1,000 tons of poultry litter to cattle, and the procedure is also common in some other geographic areas as a means of eliminating a portion of the 1.6 million tons of livestock wastes produced in the United States annually.
Or closer to home, The Englishman noted some time ago:
....after Defra's admission that the current outbreak [Feb, 2007] of avian flu could have been brought from Hungary in turkey meat, the betting is here that the one thing the media will not be doing is putting the blame where it properly belongs [the EU].
Having said all that, there is a certain obligation on us to accept current realities, however averse we are to them and it does have some truth to it that irradiation can help eliminate much of the trouble. And yet concerns remain:
Endpoints investigated have included subchronic and chronic changes in metabolism, histopathology, and function of most systems; reproductive effects; growth; teratogenicity; and mutagenicity.
The pro-irradiation lobby has now [Apr, 2008] produced yet another study aimed at the consumer directly:
Washing fresh fruits and vegetables -- even with disinfectants -- may not be enough to stop food poisoning, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.The report found that while washing helps reduce the chances of catching a bug, some microbes can hide too well, including getting inside the leaves of some produce.
The corollary is clear and of course google news produces this in the very next article. Highly suspicious, eh? I'm somewhere between the two myself but would like to know your opinion on this.
The real problem here is that in the olden days people got exposed to natural germs and built up an immunity! These days you have to make sure everything has been wiped down and expunged of all germs.
ReplyDeleteThe consequence is that you never build up an immunity to the germs and when they hit you...