DES ALIMENTS IRRADIÉS ? NON MERCI !

ZAPPED !

Camille — 2007-12-14T13:18:14Z

Would you let a doctor zap one billion X-rays all at once through your body if you were injured ? Would you let your food be treated with that same amount of radiation ?

Whether poultry, meat, fruit or vegetable, food around the world is being exposed to high doses of radiation under the veil of protecting consumers from foodborne illness. However, Zapped ! Irradiation and the Death of Food explores why this process, known as food irradiation, poses numerous health risks to consumers and ignores the fundamental problems plaguing food production systems.

Our industrialized agricultural system is designed to maximize production and profit, often at the cost of regulation and sanitation. As a result, food contamination and food recalls are making headlines, and consumers have been questioning the vulnerability of our food supply. The U.S. government and food industry are rushing toward finding a panacea for preventing another public health crisis, and is promoting irradiation as a good preventative solution. But as Zapped ! reveals, food irradiation is a shortsighted solution that does little or nothing to solve our food safety troubles.

Irradiation has three main purposes : to eradicate pests such as fruit flies, to kill disease-causing microorganisms such as E. coli and Salmonella, and to extend the shelf life of food. Yet studies indicate irradiation is ineffective and even impractical in these functions. Irradiation does not kill all the bacteria on a food item, and does not prevent meat from getting reinfected when it comes into contact with contaminated foods or cooking surfaces. Food irradiation also breaks down the cellular structure of vegetables, depletes vitamins, and ruins flavor and color. In addition, little research has been done on the potential health effects of eating irradiated vegetables.

At the same time, irradiation can lead to negative economic consequences, especially for domestic farmers. By extending the shelf life of food, irradiation gives more incentives to producers to grow their products in distant countries where labor is cheaper and food safety regulations less rigorous.

With all of these known problems, the public is becoming increasingly skeptical and wary of irradiation. Yet the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is considering a new rule that would weaken labeling of irradiated food and prevent consumers from knowing that their food has been exposed to large amounts of radiation. Other countries, including all in the European Union, are acknowledging the uncertainties, and are limiting expanding the industry until further scientific research proves irradiation is safe.

By publishing this book, Wenonah Hauter and Mark Worth hope to educate the public and policy-makers about irradiation and alternatives to keeping food safe for all consumers. Rather than treating food with a questionable technology at the end of the line, companies and governments should be making sure that food is clean at the beginning and through the entire process. Our health, not corporate profits, should be the priority.

Food and Water Watch Europe website

Zapped, death, food, irradiation,

Documents on Food Irradiation

Camille — 2007-12-06T14:06:20Z

Unlabelled Irradiated Food on the Rise in the EU, Letter to European Parlamentarians - April 2007

Irradiation Free Planet, Celebrating International Week of Action on Food Irradiation, November 2006

Status of Food Irradiation around the World, by Food and Water Watch, November 2006

Find on Public Citizen website, A FAQ document on food irrradiation

Food irradiation : a gross failure, by Center for Food Safety / Food & Water Watch

Why our children need cookers not computers, by Joanna Blythman / The Observer - July 23, 2006

The European Food Irradiation Campaign

The Revolving Door : When Public Employees Defect to the Food Irradiation Industry, by Public Citizen, 2001

The French coalition against Food Irradiation

Camille — 2007-11-06T15:45:38Z

The French coalition against Food Irradiation is constituted of NGOs, working to make citizens more aware of issues such as responsible consumption, environment, nuclear dangers and stakes... Most of them have also advocating activities.

The two main goals of the Coalition is to inform citizens on food irradiation and to advocate agaisnt this technology.

The members of the Coalition are :
Action Consommation
Adéquations
Agir Pour l'Environnement
Les Amis de la Terre
Association Léo Lagrange pour la Défense des Consommateurs
Association pour l'Information sur la Dénaturation des Aliments et de la Santé (AIDAS)
ATTAC
Biocoop
Collectifs Bure-Stop
Confédération Paysanne
CRiiRAD
Ecoforum
Ekwo
Fédération Nature et Progrès
Food and Water Europe
Mouvement pour les Droits et le Respect des Générations Futures (MDRGF)
RECit (Réseau des écoles de citoyens)
Réseau Sortir du Nucléaire

membres, associations, collectif, société civile,

What is Food Irradiation ?

Camille — 2007-10-08T13:46:00Z

What is Food Irradiation ?

Food irradiation is a process in which food is exposed to high doses of radiation. Food is irradiated using radioactive gamma sources, usually Cobalt 60 or Cesium 137, or high-energy electron beams. The gamma rays break up the molecular structure of the food, forming free radicals. The free radicals react with the food to create new chemical substances called "radiolytic products". Those are know as "unique radiolytic products" (URPs) because they can only be found in irradiated products.

Irradiation is used to kill bacteria and insects which infest food and extends the shelf life of food, for example by delaying ripening of fruits or the sprouting of vegetables.

Health risks

Food irradiation can result in loss of nutrients, for example vitamin E levels can be reduced by 25% after irradiation and vitamin C by 5-10%. This is compounded by the longer storage times of irradiated foods, and by loss of nutrients during cooking, which can result in the food finally eaten by the consumer to contain little more than 'empty calories'. This is potentially damaging to the long and short-term health of consumers, particularly for sections of society already failing to obtain adequate nutrition.

When food is exposed to high doses of ionising radiation, the chemical composition of foods changes. Radiolytic by-products are often formed in irradiated food. Very few of these chemicals have been adequately studied for toxicity. Initial results of a current EU-funded research programme indicate that one such group of chemicals, called cyclobutanones, which are formed in irradiated fatty foods, can cause cellular and genetic damage in human and rat cells, and can accumulate in body tissues. More research is urgently needed to assess the risk to human health of consuming these chemicals.

Food irradiation does not inactivate dangerous toxins which have already been produced by bacteria prior to irradiation. In some cases, such as C. botulinum, it is the toxin produced by the bacteria, rather than the bacteria itself, which poses the health hazard.

Extension of the EU list of foods permitted for irradiation could mean that in future a significant part of the diet of consumers will consist of irradiated foods. The long-term impacts of this to health remain unknown. Far more research is required before exposing populations to such a diet.

Irradiating products such as mechanically recovered chicken meat, offal and egg white, could mislead consumers into thinking that these are safer. There is therefore a risk that they will then fail to take necessary measures to prevent cross-contamination. The risk of recontamination of food after irradiation is very serious as a near sterile food is an ideal medium for very rapid growth of re-introduced bacteria. Irradiated food needs even greater care when food handling in restaurants and in the home.

Misleading the consumers

Irradiating fruit and vegetables to extend their shelf life can mislead consumers by making 'old' food look 'fresh'. The greater the age of fruit and vegetables, the lower their nutritional value, not to mention the effects of ageing on their tastes and flavours.

Consumers may be dangerously misled because irradiation also unavoidably kills off bacteria that produce warning smells indicating that the food is going 'off'.

The irradiation of some products, such as dried fruit and flakes or germs of cereal, often considered as health foods (eg muesli), could lead them to become misperceived by consumers as inherently contaminated food types.

Misuse of the technology

Food irradiation can and has been used to mask poor hygiene practices in food production. With irradiation, contamination can be sterilised. This reduces the incentive to clean up sloppy food processing operations - the industry is provided with a 'quick fix' as an alternative to dealing with the sources of the problem. The consumer has a right to expect clean food, yet irradiation can lead to the increased production of food contaminated with dirt -'clean' dirt.

Irradiation can be used to maintain or even worsen poor standards of animal husbandry. Overcrowding of animals whist rearing and prior to slaughter, as well as the use of cheap but inappropriate feeds, all contribute to contamination of animal products such as meat, poultry and eggs. Cleaning up these products at the end of the production line removes the incentive to improve animal welfare.

Breaches of existing labelling legislation have occurred in European countries, with the sale of unlabelled irradiated foods. Under these circumstance the consumer' right to choice is flouted. Relaxation of irradiation standards could worsen this situation.

The safety of workers

Workers risk accidental exposure to dangerous levels of radiation, particularly at irradiation plants using radioactive sources.

The use of irradiation to sterilise meat at the end of the production line allows slaughter lines to be run at dangerously high speeds, since the greater contamination that occurs during high speed carving of carcasses can be 'cleaned up' at the end of the line. This approach increases the risk of accidents and fatalities by forcing meat packers to work faster than ever.

Socio-economic costs

Food irradiation is not a low-cost method. Irradiation plants are expensive and could help large multinationals to eliminate smaller and more local producers.

Irradiation supports greater globalisation of food production and supply, putting at risk Europe's local farmers, jobs in the European food processing industry, and rural economies around the world.

Environmental impacts

Accidents at radioactive irradiation plants have already led to radioactive spills and contamination of surrounding land and water resources. This could happen again.

The construction of more irradiation plants will lead to more transportation of radioactive materials, meaning increased risks of accidents and radioactive leaks over a wider area.

Irradiation allows food to be transported over greater distances, leading to greater air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

text published on ASECO website, april 2007

food, irradiation, health, impacts, technology, environment,