FDA Approves Zapping Greens With Radiation For Food Safety

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.

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.

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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.

Comments

[arvay]

Really good news!

Irradiation solves multiple food distribution and consumption problems. No need for expensive refrigeration. Few worries about contamination. Imagine, you wouldn't have to see chicken as salmonella festered!

Irradiation doesn't make food radioactive. It passes through, killing harmful organisms. We could switch to much smaller refrigerators and freezers, since irradiated food can be stored at room temperature. Want un-pasteurized milk and cheese? You got it!

[artemisvictrix]

" Irradiation and Vegetables Don"t Mix"

http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/food/foodirradiation/irradiation-facts/irradiation-and-vegetables-nomix

Lets take action people!!!!

[mediamarv]

Frankenfood. Another Bushco legacy. Please remember that when in the voting booth.

[Tags]

Radiation means laziness.

"We don't need to remove feces because it will be harmless."

This laziness will breed carelessness as radiation does not remove toxins, just pathogens. As usual, corporate flacks will use the "personal responsibility" mantra to blame the victims for "pilot error."

[Gary47]

The only reason there's E.coli in them in the first place is because corporate agriculture continually does less and less to keep the products clean. It's just a way for them to save money and put the rest of us at risk. Irradiation is just the cheap easy way to do it instead of actually cleaning and inspecting the produce. Of course this puts us at risk too because who knows what effect the radiation has.

[markie1111]

oh good, alfalfa spouts return to a produce aisle near you.

[NoSillyName]

Its not fair if they won't label it, same with the GMO junk.

[rivrgrrl]

Not only not fair, it's criminal.

We have a right to know what we are buying and feeding our families.

[javaman]

more of the lowering of the intelligence bar of the nation. so we are to believe that because we now zap our lettuce we are safe????? LOL that's rich.

Instead of having regulations into how food is actually grown and cared for, we are now basically flinging the door open to all the marginally clean producers of our food to basically no give a d*mn at all now. Because they know they can now zap the food to within an inch of it's live to make it "safe".

do some reading up on microwaving your food, then see if you really think that this little process is going to save us all.

if the brain dead consumers out there sat down for one minute, turned off the TV (perish the thought) and did a little reading about what they are actually eating and where they get it from, they would either be scared witless and start going to farmers markets, CSA's or grow their own. but alas, non-involvement and allowing "someone" else to do it, serves them better.

We live in one really stupid *ss society.

[ssaz]

I couldn't agree with you more. Our country has become a society of ignorant, lazy people that don't care about issues and have even less inclination to act on their own behalf. A perfect example of this in action is the election of president bush. He's an idiot who graduated at the bottom of his class, then used political insiders to elevate him to positions he was not qualified for. Then, ignorant americans with little knowledge of his past simply stayed home rather than undersand the pro's and cons and vote based on an educated opinion. Irradiating our food is likewise a stupid decision. In ten years when we see children with bizarre and unexplained developments we'll want someone to scapegoat and that person will be staring at us in the mirror. You can thank the republican party for their willingness to simply roll over and do anything big business or corporate america wants.

[Jess27]

My only problem with this is there will be no labeling on the package of irradiated food items. If you want your food irradiated, that is your choice, but it should be a choice. It should be clearly labeled on all food that is irradiated.

[xqqme]

Guess what, the FDA will not tell you what food has been "treated". No label is required.
Nice.
www.naturalnews.com

[Jason357]

Yeah, but maybe the one's who won't treat it will say that. Buying local is better anyway. Whole Foods and other places have the farmers names on signs. Sure, it costs more, but it's cheaper to process radiated food with all kinds of chemistry instead of quality and whole food.

[pinellas]

Just gross, IMO - & yes, another excuse to funnel $$ to somebody's bad idea: what to do w/ nuclear waste.

Today's FDA protects businesses & their interests - not consumers.

[jvarga]

I'm curious as to where you discovered that the source of radiation will be nuclear waste? I looked and couldn't find the actual source listed anywhere, so I'm curious where I went wrong.

The source of the radiation doesn't change the fact that this is a bandaid and doesn't address the cause(s) of the problem.

[rwe]

So by the logic of the greenophobes here , no one should be vaccinated for polio or measles or smallpox .

[jeanruss]

What about the enzyme issues? The lack of raw, enzyme-rich foods is at the heart of the devastating health problems Americans are experiencing. Cancer is now rampant because of the lack of fresh enzymes in our food. It seems to me that the FDA is more about keeping us sick, than keeping us well. The corporate interests that now control the FDA, are promoting practices that make them rich. As we get more sickly, they rake in the millions. This is why they are either harassing vitamin companies or purchasing them. We are exposed to enough radiation as it is. We are being treated like commodities to be exploited, rather than human beings, and I am sick of it. If you want to smoke, drink or carry a weapon, that's great in corporate America, but if you want clean food and water, well, that's just too damn bad.

[darthdarcy]

Irradiation as many scientist have commented creates other compounds that might be cancer forming...

Also there are unsure how well a frail leafy vegetable will hold up to being irradiated...!

[Swerinjer]

Irradiation will disguise or otherwise divert attention away from poor working conditions, sanitation, and poor food-handling procedures that lead to contamination in the first place.

Why is there not one single word from critics of irradiation? Why is there no mention at all about labelling? Hmmmm?