Your editorial "Hamburger Helper" [below] glosses over the true causes of E. coli contamination and promotes irradiation as a quick fix. You ignore the culpability of the meat-packing industry for the disgraceful conditions at many slaughterhouses, and support a clearly failing regulatory framework that relies on the industry to police itself.
Contaminated meat is the result of filthy conditions in processing plants and slaughterhouses. As documented in a recent study by Public Citizen and the Government Accountability Project, and then by the U.S. General Accounting Office, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's six-year-old program to detect bacterially contaminated meat is so flawed that it allows millions of pounds of dirty meat onto our dinner plates. At the ConAgra plant, line speeds are so fast that inspectors have only seconds to examine a passing carcass. But instead of suggesting that USDA attack the underlying causes of bacterial outbreaks -- and ensure meat is clean in the first place -- you appear to support a system in which producers would be free to allow fecal contamination of meat during processing, then attempt to mop up the mess with doses of radiation.
But the dangers of eating a diet of irradiated food are of concern. We do know that it disrupts the chemical composition of everything in its path, including vitamins, and creates scores of new chemicals called radiolytic products. The FDA regulates the process as a food additive because these new substances are created. A recent German government study found that one of irradiation's byproducts leads to genetic damage in rat and human cells and promotes the carcinogenic process.
You also suggest that irradiated food be benignly labeled as "pasteurized," a distinctly different process that uses rapid heating and cooling to partially sterilize liquids like milk. Consumers know the difference and said resoundingly in recent market research that such labeling would be "deceptive."
It makes no sense to rely on irradiation to clean up meat at the end of the process. Why not use common sense and produce wholesome food that doesn't need technological contamination that might haunt us in the future?
Joan Claybrook President, Public Citizen Washington
You can bet a lot of grills sat cold this weekend after the Department of Agriculture announced a nationwide recall of 19 million pounds of beef-the second largest in history. With 19 people sick from E-coli contaminated meat, nobody felt much like a hamburger.
The truly unfortunate thing about the latest recall is that it didn't have to happen. We've long had the tools to cut back on foodborne illnesses, but government agencies, egged on by groups like Public Citizen, have made it difficult to safely enjoy that steak tartare.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, an estimated 76 million Americans get sick from foodborne pathogens each year, and 5,000 die as a result. The Agriculture Department estimates that just seven of these pathogens will result in medical costs and productivity losses of between $6.6 billion and $37.1 billion annually.
Scientists long ago figured out how to dramatically cut back on those statistics: food irradiation. Despite the word, irradiation has nothing to do with Chernobyl-like isotopes, but is a simple process where ordinary electricity is used to kill pathogens in food-something akin to pasteurizing milk.
Irradiation is heartily endorsed by public health bodies ranging from the World Health Organization to the American Medical Association, and some 40 countries use it to keep food safe. It's also gained new importance as countries try to make food safe from bioterror.
The Food and Drug Administration itself approved irradiation of red meat in 1997, but at the prodding of activists also attached regulations guaranteed to keep consumers away. Packages undergoing the process had to carry warning-like labels that said "irradiation." They also had to exhibit the international "radura" symbol (which some say looks like an upside-down mushroom cloud).
This all thrills the Naderites at Public Citizen, which has banded with other liberal public-interest organizations to oppose irradiated food. The groups pour out Dr. Strangelovian descriptions of irradiation, and target restaurants and grocery stores that stock irradiated foods. As a result, the food industry has largely shied away from this simple safety procedure. One high note is that the newly passed farm bill contains a measure allowing food companies to exchange the "irradiation" label for "pasteurization." That's a more honest description for consumers. The sooner people realize irradiation won't hurt them, the sooner we'll cut back on senseless food deaths.
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