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FROM: POLS ~ FR% NO.~ 18089747670 05-05-97 03:45P p,02 ~ ~ ~ • ~ Position of The American Dietetic Association: Food irradiation The Amerman Dietetic Association (ADA) and qualified dietetics professionals have a responsibility to educate consumers on issues related to food and nutrition. One such issue of importance to professionals and consumers is food irradiation. Food irradiation offers one solution for addressing the growing concerns associated with food safety. Position Statement ]t is the position of The American Dietetic Association that food irradiation is one way to enhance the safety and quality of the food supply. The .4DA encourages the government, food manufacturers, food commodity groups, and qualified dietetics professionals to continue working together in educating consumers about this technology. General Overview Although the US food supply has achieved a high level of safety, microbiological hazards exist. Because foods may contain pathogens, mishandling, including improper cooking. can result in foodborne illness. About 6.5 to 33 million cases of foodborne illness are estimated to occur annually in the United States; about 9,000 of these result in death (1). Recent outbreaks of illness and death caused by Escherichia coli 0157:H7 have focused attention on this emerging pathogen, which is estimated to affect 7,000 to 20,000 Americans yearly at a cost of $174.3 to 5467.7 million (2), Irradiation has been identified as one solution that enhances food safety through the reduction of potential pathogens and has been recommended as part of a comprehensive program to enhance food safety (3-6). The Food Irradiation Process Irradiation exposes food to radiant energy. (S~e F~~re ! fur defirtirions ojfocxt rrradiarron trrmn7oloKy.) Food is passed through an enclosed chamber - an irradiator -where it is exposed to an ionizing energy source Fi u e 2 Although the sources of ionizing energy may be gamma rays from cobalt 60 (corn) or cesium 137 (u7a), x-rays, or electrons generated from machine sources (7,8), food irradiation in the United States relies exclusively on the use of (GOCo) (9,10), which is contained in stainless-steel rods placed in racks. The gamma rays emitted are very short wavelengths, similar to ultraviolet light and microwaves. Dccause gamma radiation dots not elicit neutrons (ie, the subatomic particles that can make substances radioactive), "meltdown" and chain reactions cannot occur, and irradiated foods and their packaging are not made radioactive (8,10-12). The (corn) gamma energy penetrates the food and its packaging but most ofthe energy simply passes through the food, similar to the way microwaves pass through food, leaving no residue. The small amount of energy that does not pass through the food is negligible and is retained as heat. l oC8 55;97 llag AM