Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  

Author Topic: FDA: Irradiating spinach, lettuce OK to kill germs  (Read 844 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

NukeIT

  • Full CVO Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 175
FDA: Irradiating spinach, lettuce OK to kill germs
« on: August 23, 2008, 09:18:59 AM »

Now I don't know if it is just because I am form the left coast or not but I don't want to eat it.... and its not like I am just scared of the stuff I work with radioactivity everyday. I just don't want to eat something that has been intentionally nuke'd



WASHINGTON - Consumers worried about salad safety may soon be able to buy fresh spinach and iceberg lettuce zapped with just enough radiation to kill E. coli and a few other germs.

ADVERTISEMENT
 
The Food and Drug Administration on Friday will issue a regulation allowing spinach and lettuce sellers to take that extra step, a long-awaited move amid increasing outbreaks from raw produce.

It doesn't excuse dirty produce, warned Dr. Laura Tarantino, FDA's chief of food additive safety. Farms and processors still must follow standard rules to keep the greens as clean as possible — and consumers, too, should wash the leaves before eating.

"What this does is give producers and processors one more tool in the toolbox to make these commodities safer and protect public health," Tarantino said.

Irradiated meat has been around for years, particularly ground beef that is a favorite hiding spot for E. coli. Spices also can be irradiated.

But the Grocery Manufacturers Association had petitioned the FDA to allow irradiation of fresh produce, too, starting with leafy greens that have sparked numerous recent outbreaks, including E. coli in spinach that in 2006 killed three people and sickened nearly 200.

The industry group wouldn't name salad suppliers ready to start irradiating. But it expects niche marketing to trickle out first — bags of spinach and lettuce targeted to high-risk populations such as people with weak immune systems "who right now may be afraid to eat uncooked produce," said GMA's chief science officer Robert Brackett.

"It's one big step forward in improving the safety of fresh produce," he added.

California-based produce giant Dole Food Company confirmed it is considering irradiated lettuce. "We are currently doing extensive testing with irradiation and it looks to be very promising," said spokesman William Goldfield.

A leading food safety expert said irradiation indeed can kill certain bacteria safely — but it doesn't kill viruses that also increasingly contaminate produce, and it isn't as effective as tightening steps to prevent contamination starting at the farm.

"It won't control all hazards on these products," cautioned Caroline Smith DeWaal of the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

She questioned why the FDA hasn't addressed her agency's 2006 call to require growers to document such things as how they use manure and ensure the safety of irrigation water. Irrigation is one suspect in this summer's nationwide salmonella outbreak attributed first to tomatoes and then to Mexican hot peppers.

"We are not opposed to the use of irradiation," DeWaal said. But, "it's expensive and it doesn't really address the problem at the source."

Won't zapping leafy greens with X-rays or other means of radiation leave them limp? Not with today's modern techniques and the right dose, the FDA decided.

The FDA determined that irradiation can kill E. coli, salmonella and listeria, as well as lengthen shelf life, without compromising the safety, texture or nutrient value of raw spinach lettuce — the first greens studied.

E. coli actually is fairly sensitive to radiation, while salmonella and listeria require more energy. While irradiation doesn't sterilize, the FDA ruled that food companies could use a dose proven to dramatically reduce levels of those germs, a dose somewhat lower than meat requires.

But consumers shouldn't consider irradiation a panacea, either. While E. coli and salmonella tend to affect more people and make bigger headlines, consumer advocate DeWaal has found that norovirus contamination is a leading cause of produce outbreaks.

The irradiation rule goes into effect Friday. The FDA still is considering industry's petition to allow irradiation of additional produce. The grocery manufacturers group will push for other greens, such as Romaine lettuce, to be next, so that producers could irradiate bags of salad mixes.

While irradiated foods initially caused some consumer concern, FDA's Tarantino stressed that the food itself harbors no radiation.

"There is no residue, there's nothing left and certainly no radioactivity left," she said
Logged
"It's not a bike, It's a lifestyle!"

Hugh Janis

  • Jim
  • 5k CVO Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 6121

    • CVO1: FLHTCUSE2 Cherry and Black
Re: FDA: Irradiating spinach, lettuce OK to kill germs
« Reply #1 on: August 23, 2008, 09:32:10 AM »

Gamma irradiation doesn't leave radiation behind.  It may change/damage/alter composition of the compounds within cells.  Thats how exposure to radiation can lead to cancer.  But if the you have a plant that wasn't toxic before how is it toxic after?  That's the true question. 
Logged
"I don't mind coming to work,
But that eight hour wait to go home is a bitch."

Click link for BBQ song..   http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1825742

NukeIT

  • Full CVO Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 175
Re: FDA: Irradiating spinach, lettuce OK to kill germs
« Reply #2 on: August 23, 2008, 09:53:19 AM »

Gamma irradiation doesn't leave radiation behind.  It may change/damage/alter composition of the compounds within cells.  Thats how exposure to radiation can lead to cancer.  But if the you have a plant that wasn't toxic before how is it toxic after?  That's the true question. 

true you dint get activation of materials by gamma exposure. but the ionizing effects are what make me worry such as the breaking of the DNA structure. there really hasn't been any long term research done on adverase effects of consumption.


Logged
"It's not a bike, It's a lifestyle!"

Screamin

  • 5k CVO Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5087
  • Number 641

    • CVO1: 2005 SEEG2 Cherry
    • CVO2: 2019 Road Glide Ultra
Re: FDA: Irradiating spinach, lettuce OK to kill germs
« Reply #3 on: August 23, 2008, 11:33:41 AM »

Just ain't natural. Hormoned cows, nuked veggies, plastic cheese. This chit just ain't right.
Logged

grc

  • 10K CVO Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 14216
  • AKA Grouchy Old Fart
    • IN


    • CVO1: 2005 SEEG2
Re: FDA: Irradiating spinach, lettuce OK to kill germs
« Reply #4 on: August 23, 2008, 12:47:43 PM »

Hate to tell ya, but unless you're a vegetarian you've probably already been eating "nuked" food.  It's been approved for meat for some time now.  Since we can't depend on the producers, processors, distributors, and retailers to take food safety and cleanliness seriously (gets in the way of profit making), and we can't depend on our government regulators to actually inspect stuff and enforce regulations, we will probably all want to buy the home version of the equipment when it comes out.  I hear they're working on a "George Foreman" version that will be bundled with his grill.  It will be marketed to those who like their burgers rare.

Jerry
Logged
Jerry - 2005 Cherry SEEG  -  Member # 1155

H-D and me  -  a classic love / hate relationship.  Current score:  love 40, hate 50, bewildered 10.

BigR55

  • Guest
Re: FDA: Irradiating spinach, lettuce OK to kill germs
« Reply #5 on: August 23, 2008, 01:27:52 PM »

I hear they're working on a "George Foreman" version that will be bundled with his grill.  It will be marketed to those who like their burgers rare.

Wonder if you could use this for a at home prostrate treatment? ???
Logged

NukeIT

  • Full CVO Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 175
Re: FDA: Irradiating spinach, lettuce OK to kill germs
« Reply #6 on: August 23, 2008, 03:43:53 PM »

you have to be on the look out for the Radura logo they have to put it on anything that they have irradiated....

we should just be happy that we dont live in the EU, they are allowed to irradiate things there at a much higher level than the FDA current allows....
Logged
"It's not a bike, It's a lifestyle!"

Hugh Janis

  • Jim
  • 5k CVO Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 6121

    • CVO1: FLHTCUSE2 Cherry and Black
Re: FDA: Irradiating spinach, lettuce OK to kill germs
« Reply #7 on: August 24, 2008, 08:14:51 AM »

but that logo looks healthy!  Now if it were RED!  That would be another story.  BTW, I haven't noticed that before.  I wonder how large it has to be.   :nixweiss:
Logged
"I don't mind coming to work,
But that eight hour wait to go home is a bitch."

Click link for BBQ song..   http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1825742
 

Page created in 0.242 seconds with 25 queries.