Irradiating Spinach and Lettuce
So at long last the Food and Drug Administration in the United States is going to allow the irradiation of spinach and lettuce. I’m better late than never commenting on this. The news appeared just as my phone line and internet connection collapsed. Anyway, three cheers. It seems a very reliable, inexpensive way to make sure fresh produce, always problematic, is safe to consume.
Here’s an article from the Washington Post on irradiating vegetables with just the bare bones. And here’s an enthusiastic op-ed from today’s Wall Street Journal with a lot of useful links.
And here’s the New York Times giving equal time to “food safety advocates” (another of those preemptive strike names) who see it as a cover up for dirty conditions on farms (and presumably on trucks and in processing facilities). Hmm. Of course we want farms and trucks and grocery stores and everywhere our food goes to be as clean as possible. But (a) we can’t inspect them all and (b) even if we could, perfect cleanliness–just like total safety–is an impossible goal.
And then there’s the argument that many food borne illnesses are caused by viruses that won’t be killed by irradiation. So this is an argument against getting rid of the cause of a large number of food borne illnesses? Come on.
Edit. Here’s a link that has a reasonable discussion of irradiation.
I was at a lunch and was told that once dried chiles were zapped, they had zero nutritional value. I was silenced! I didn’t believe it and I didn’t know what to say, but I really didn’t know the truth of the matter. I can see both sides of this, being familiar with corporate greed and the fun of protest.
How does it affect the nutrition, and more importantly to me, the flavor?
Hi Steve,
Minimally so far as I can tell. When I was in Hawaii, the then Dean of Natural Sciences was working on the irradiation of Hawaiian papaya. This was actually to kill fruit flies so that they could be sent to the US mainland. The judgment was, and everything I’ve read later confirms this, that nutrition and flavor survive just fine.
I think they should think up another name for the process. Nobody seems to object to ultraviolet light being used on water.
I could go on but I’ve just emptied the freezer in a frenzied attempt to get some control of its contents.
I read the piece in the NY Times and was a bit taken a back… could we even believe the Food and Drug Admistration to keep our food safe. These are the people that say there is no global warming too. What if in ten years we discover this science was incorrect? I am not sure I would want my children or your’s eating this food. Maybe, if we are given better tips on how to prep our food we would not have even discuss irradiation on our food. then we would not have to even worry about taste or nutrition. I will be blogging about this too at http:/blog.platefullofmemories.com This is too important to just let happen.
Hi Hella,
Do you have any links to papers or articles regarding the FDA’s stance on global warming?
Hella, Thanks for writing. I agree that most of us have to trust some authority about what we eat. For me, the problem is balancing that trust. I don’t believe any large well-funded group–governmental, NGO or corporation–should be trusted without continual scrutiny. That said, I’d be curious to know why you feel that the FDA is less trustworthy than certain “citizen” groups that often seem to be funded by special interests.
It has taken me a while to get back to this but….I guess I come from the Polly Anna School where I had believed that government studies were honest with no point of view but the interest in its citizens. I never trusted corporate studies. Now I can not tell the difference and that is what really scares me. Where and how do we know what has been engineered in our food supply? And, if we don’t trust anyone, what do we serve our families? Irradiation of vegetables is only the start. I really do think we need to start buying locally where we get to know who grows our food and using food in season. I know that this does not work for a lot of people in big cities but the food co-ops could do this on a grander scale. I have started by buying only at the farmers market. It is a start.
Hella, if I ever get through my current back log I’ll post on safety. The issue of who to trust is key. And a couple of quick points.
Our food is probably safer than it’s ever been. And I live in a place where a lot of the food is locally grown. I don’t think local is any guarantee that it’s safer. OK you may say, I live in Mexico. But Mexicans are pretty concerned about food safety too. And for small producers, doing the tests or setting the standards to ensure safety can be onerous wherever you are.
But more on this I hope not too long from now.