Q: I recently bought a bag of potatoes and when I got home, I read on the
bag that they were “treated by irradiation.” Given the nuclear
power plant problems
in Japan a few years ago, I am alarmed. Is this dangerous?
A: Food irradiation is sometimes called “cold pasteurization.” It is the
process of exposing food to a high dose of energy ionizing radiation using
Gamma rays, X-rays or electron beam radiation.
It is used to prevent food poisoning by reducing the level of parasites and
harmful bacteria such as E.coli in ground beef and Salmonella and
Campylobacter in poultry; to prevent spoilage by destroying bacteria, molds,
and yeasts; to control insect and parasite infestation; and to increase
shelf life by slowing the ripening of fresh fruits and vegetables.
It doesn’t work for all foods; tomatoes, leafy vegetables, and citrus fruit
become more prone to molds and rot after irradiation, due to cell wall
damage. Nor does it entirely eliminate microorganisms or address viruses or
prions (which are responsible for CJD or so-called Mad Cow Disease).
Food irradiation is not a new technology. It was tested on strawberries in
Sweden in 1916, and the first American and British patents were issued
around the same time. It wasn’t used much until 1953, when U.S. President
Eisenhower announced the “Atoms for Peace Program,” which was designed to
shift public attention away from nuclear weapons and onto other uses of
nuclear technology. The U.S. Department of Defense began intensive research
into food irradiation at that time.
In 1983, a worldwide standard was adopted for irradiated foods by the Codex
Alimentarius Commission, a body of the U.N. Food and Agriculture
Organization and the World Health Organization. The standard was based on
the findings of a Joint Expert Committee on Food Irradiation, which also
involved the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Irradiation is endorsed as safe by the Centers for Disease Control and the
American Medical Association, as well as the many national governments that
allow its use. However, consumers, health and environmental activist
organizations, and some medical researchers are not convinced that its
benefits outweigh its possible dangers. There is a patchwork of regulations
in various countries and states, with some only allowing irradiation for
spices, for instance, as in the European Union (despite stricter regulations
in individual member countries.) Labeling laws also vary widely.
Supporters of irradiation are fond of saying that food undergoing
irradiation does not become radioactive “any more than luggage passing
through an airport X-ray scanner or teeth that have been X-rayed.” Indeed,
your irradiated chicken leg is not going to glow. But critics have other
concerns.
Ionizing radiation has sufficient energy to knock electrons out of the atoms
of the material bombarded. This can break its molecular structure, leaving
positively and negatively charged particles called ions or free radicals
(implicated in cancer and heart disease). The ions are chemically very
active and easily recombine or initiate chemical reactions with surrounding
material. Thus, ionizing radiation alters the chemical structure of
material, which in turn can have biological effects on the behavior of
living organisms. However, scientific studies are conflicting on whether food
chemistry changes are of any great significance.
Both supporters and critics tend to focus on research that supports their
position. In my own scanning of the pros and cons, two studies stood out. In
1979, a scientist with the Hungarian Academy of Sciences reviewed the
existing literature to document the potential biological effects of eating
irradiated foods. In hundreds of studies, he found 7,191 neutral effects,
185 beneficial effects, and 1,414 negative effects. The negative effects
included chromosome changes, organ damage, tumors, and premature death. The
long-term consequences of some of these and their interrelationship with
other health risks such as malnutrition and environmental toxins (like
pesticide residues on food) are not well understood. Inexcusably, there are
few studies on the effects of feeding babies or children diets containing
irradiated foods.
In 2004, in the journal International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health, researchers from the
University of Texas published their paper “Health concerns regarding
consumption of irradiated food.” They wrote: “Food irradiation is being
promoted as a simple process that can be used to effectively and
significantly reduce food-borne illnesses around the world. However, a
thorough review of the literature reveals a paucity of adequate research
conducted to specifically address health concerns that may directly result
from the consumption of irradiated food.”
Some cancer researchers claim there is a great deal of research that
suggests we should steer clear of irradiated food. At a 2001 symposium
sponsored by the Cancer Prevention Coalition and held at the University of
Illinois, Dr. Samuel Epstein, chair of the Cancer Prevention Coalition and emeritus
professor of environmental medicine at the University of Illinois' School of
Public Health was unequivocal. He said, "It defies belief that
our government can remain in such a severe state of denial. Every man, woman
and child who takes a bite of irradiated food increases their chance of
getting cancer. It is no exaggeration to say that our government has turned
the American people into guinea pigs."
We also know that irradiation diminishes some vitamin levels. Four vitamins
are recognized as being highly sensitive to irradiation: B1, C (ascorbic
acid), A (retinol) and E (a-tocopherol). To a lesser degree, it may affect
the other B vitamins, as well as vitamin K.
As far as preventing food-borne illnesses, irradiation isn’t a silver
bullet. It kills ninety-five percent of the bacteria in food, but not all
bacteria are harmful to your health and some signal that food has gone bad,
subjecting us to illness from eating food that appears fresh but isn’t.
There is also some concern that the bacteria which cause food poisoning
could become resistant to irradiation over time, in the same way that
over-prescription of antibiotics has created antibiotic resistant strains of
bacteria.
Aside from concerns about irradiated food, we need to consider the process
itself, which is a high energy user and has environmental hazards.
Irradiation uses the radioactive materials cesium-137 and cobalt-60.
According to the International Consultative Group on Food Irradiation (a joint
FAO/International Atomic Energy Association initiative), “Over the past thirty
years, there have been a few major accidents at industrial irradiation
facilities that caused injury or death to workers because of accidental exposure
to a lethal dose of radiation.”
The more popular irradiation becomes, the more irradiators there will be,
and the more likelihood of a serious accident in transport, operation, or
disposal of the nuclear materials. Food irradiation facilities have already
contaminated the environment, according to the Organic Consumers
Association, which describes one incident in 1988, where radioactive water
escaped from an irradiation facility in the state of Georgia. In Hawaii in
1967 and New Jersey in 1982, radioactive water from irradiation facilities
was flushed into the public sewer systems.
Many organizations argue that irradiation is a risky way to cover up
problems within the food industry: The dirty, unsafe, and inhumane
conditions at factory farms, slaughterhouses, and food processing facilities
are ultimately responsible for large-scale food contaminations. “While the
public is being sold on irradiation as a solution to the growing crisis of
food-borne illness, this technology is used to satisfy the food industry‚
ever-growing craving to cut costs and increase profits,” writes Wenonah
Hauter, the Executive Director of the organization Food and Water Watch, in
her book Zapped! Irradiation and the Death of Food (Food and Water
Watch Press, 2009)
However, money talks. Government and taxpayers – not the industry – cover
much of the regulation and clean-up costs associated with irradiation,
making it a cheaper solution for food processors than cleaning up their act.
Food irradiation is also a solution for a nuclear industry plagued by bomb
test ban treaties and the recent surge in public concern about the safety of
nuclear power.
In the end, it is up to each of us to decide how much faith we have in
government agencies’ assurances of safety. Irradiated food must be labeled
in many countries,
so you can avoid it if you wish. But, since irradiated ingredients like
spices in processed foods don’t usually have to be labeled, the only sure way to
avoid it is to buy organic brands.
Wendy Priesnitz is the
co-founder and editor of Natural Life Magazine and a
journalist with over 40 years of experience. This article was first
published in Natural Life in 2011 and has been updated.
