EON

Many See Food Irradiation Measure As A Stopgap Decision

Washington, D.C.- This Spring and Summer has been the season of food illness outbreaks with the Salmonella outbreak across North America, several small E. Coli outbreaks and a current listeriosis outbreak in Canada.

The decision by the Food and Drug Administration of the United States to allow the irradiation of lettuce and spinach is a decision that many in the industry feel is almost too little too late.

The FDA is insisting that it will mean that dangerous bacteria that may be present on the surface of foods such as lettuce and spinach will be killed by the irradiation without doing any harm to the food itself.

Most of the large agribusinesses that have the most to lose by food illness outbreaks favor the decision, but many consumers and others are not sure about the efficacy or long-term safety of food irradiation.

Many in the industry insist that while food irradiation may work on the short term, but is needed is more inspection, and more regulations that the FDA actually enforces.

Farming methods that are inspected and free from contamination are another huge issue that is not being address properly by the FDA.

Only about 10 percent, sometimes less, of the meat produced in North America is inspected, and even then it is inspected randomly without really in depth methods of examination.

In a world where food is shipped literally around the world in a matter of hours, it is becoming a huge issue of world concern, food safety much be insured and maintained.

As the world leader in food production and technology, there are a great number of things and solutions that must be achieved if public safety is to be maintained.