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PHONE BBB-'1'15-969'1 JRN-LEE MUSIC 8 WEISS ENTERPRIBEB~INC. 361 P02
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<br /> 2Jlarian $urros THE "b.W YORK TJMES, WEDNESDAY, AC' 'ST 96, 1991
<br /> HE story of food irradlulon American ASSOtlttlon n( Retired Per- Food safety A one consideration,
<br /> bears a sulking reaemDlance . ions and the A. F. L.•C.LO. have asked loss of nutrltnlt is another. Accord-
<br /> to the ilOry Of dllcone breast the A rlcuhure bepartment 10 wlth• Ing to lAt April Ieaue O! Nul rilion
<br /> Implants: proponents are .Ig- draw ~ta propObal until all the safety Action, a health newalelter published
<br /> noring the risks while promoting the queatloni are answered. Dy the Center for Science in the Pub-
<br /> bencllls. No one la sayingg that Irrodleted Ile Interetl, in one study the vhamin
<br /> the eruUai difference fi that many loods are radloacllve; they aren't. C tomcat of potataa was reduced by
<br /> sciemiste are trying w prevent ap- Bul the question that causes the moat d0 percent after the potatoes had been
<br /> provol of the Irradlatlon process until concern I9 whether Irradlatlon re- given a standard dose of radietlon. In
<br /> 115 safety has been tested to every- solo In the formation of toxic cheml-
<br /> one's seUafatllon, Instead of letting It cols and other "radlolytlc" products, , `L~`ua,"',,~a';' .
<br /> go on the market Ilrst. The ~ubllc, treated when the bombardment of
<br /> ¦Iways aqueaml9h when words con- the food with gamma rays breaks up
<br /> netted with ndloottlvlly are used, Is some of [he molecules. In the ,91a's, Is any level of
<br /> not rushing to embrace Irrodleted pn mrornel [ask Torre of the F.D.A.
<br /> foods Laat wiener, a rtore In Nonh estimated that 10 percent of these
<br /> Mlamt Beach, Fla., received wide- radlolytlc products might be unique
<br /> spread publicity when It put Irradiet• to Irradiated foods, Dut It concluded enzene Saf e
<br /> eJ str¦wberrles on the market, Out h that the amounts of such toxk theml~
<br /> is not clesr how well they sold. P cols that are formed Ilke Denune, to consume?
<br /> Irradiation le Nardi a new ro- which causes cancer -art too small
<br /> etas: ? has been around tar 00 years to bC slgnltlcent.
<br /> but its prominence In food rises with Not everyone agrees. In "Food Ir•
<br /> each Government decision that ed• radtallon: Who Wants Ill" Thorson lCrr»~a;: ^ x
<br /> vances Iic use. The Food and Drug Publlshera Inc., 1961), Tony Webb, '~o..
<br /> Admtnlstration Naa declared irradle- Tlm Lang end Kathleen Tucker another study, one-third the level oI
<br /> eon, which la the bombing of food write: "It Is safest to assume that radietlon permitted by the F.D.A. re•
<br /> with gamma rays, tote for preserv there le no safe level of exposure to doted thlamin levels In pork Dy 11
<br /> mg certain loods; the WOrlC Health such themlcals; anyy dose can cause Perttnl,andanormaldostoflrndla-
<br /> Organization also says Irradiated the In1Ual damage that develops Into tlon reduced thlamin levels In chicken
<br /> card presents no health risks. This a Confer." They add. "The tact that a breaiti by 6 percent. Vitamin E con•
<br /> year, the United Stoles Department chemltal change Is small does not tent was also affected.
<br /> of Agriculture published proposed ellminale the risk." Proponents of Irradfaton say vlta-
<br /> reguletions for Irradlating poultry, The F-D.A. based its approval of into losses fn trrad filed food ere tom•
<br /> end a food Irradlatlon plant has Irradlatlon on'only five or six animal parable to those that occur In cook-
<br /> upened m Florida. aludle9. It had some 1(10 to choose Ing. But many (pods that would be
<br /> But questions that have troubled Irom but fold all the rest were Irrodleted, Ilke poultry and pork.
<br /> sclcnusls and envlronmentallsts flawed. Dr. Donald 8. Lourla, Chair- would be cooked after irradlatlon,
<br /> a bout food IrradlelOn have never man of the department 01 preventive further depleling vitamin levels,
<br /> been answered iallSGflonly. No one medicine end community health at In "Ftrod Irndlalian: Who Wants
<br /> knows whether the protege creates the Umverslty of Medlclne end Den- It7" the authors also point out that
<br /> r~;,~r~^y~rspt:,;y;r`; li5try of New Jersey in Newark, sold SCIIIng Irradialtd food as fresh Is
<br /> ' the few studies on which the agency deceptive because trolls end vogete-
<br /> rellyd were olio flawed. "Taken to• hies Irradiated or not -lose nutrl-
<br /> Irradiated gather," Dr. Lourls wrote In hli crl- Mts titer picking. A slx•week-old h
<br /> llqut, "Ihl3e studies could not possl. radiated elrawberry, (hough aFpeer
<br /> 01 eatebllsh the safely of food Irro• Ing fresh, would have lets nutritional
<br /> Y value than a non•Irradlated suawber-
<br /> foodsmeet dlellaO. Indeed, two of the studies yy a few days old.
<br /> suggest the technology la not sate." Even though nuclear opponents do
<br /> There Is still another safety ques• not Ordinarily become involved in nu~
<br />
<br /> resistance. eon: the usual dose o1 radietlon does trlllon Issues, chit time they have,
<br /> not kill the bacteria that cause Dole- ilnce the rodloactlve lsotopet used to
<br /> Ilsm, a particularly vlrulern form of trradlate food se
<br /> food Isonin The bacteria that Do potentlsl prob•
<br /> Po 6 lemi to plant workers and people who
<br /> ,':'%,ti~!e., r''$~",~}?t ~r{~,,;,?yi: caVSe of(-odors and flavors are killed, live nesr the plant. Nuclear oppo-
<br /> so in (hose taus where an odor might nenta lay food Irradlellon plants
<br /> warn of c Ilage. that safety mecha• would just add to the Increaseng rob
<br /> new themlcals at levels that may be nlsm would be one. I p
<br /> harmful, or whether Ne toil of nutrl- 6 lama of nuclear•waite dl9posa .
<br /> The May Issue of the Berkeley Dr. Shelden Margen, professor
<br />
<br /> cots from trradiatlon Is unacceptably Welineu Letter, published Dy Ne emeritus of ubllc health nutrlllon at
<br /> high, or to what extent adding more Unlverafty of Celllornla at Berkeley,
<br /> processing plane That use nuclear notes en article in the September Berkeley, sa d: "There are polentlal~
<br /> components Increases the rick of nu- pa00 issue of the Bulletin of the Atom- IY serious conterne about the issues
<br /> clear accidenu. Ic Sclentlsts that Says the proponents of waste dlspvial, engititering 9ekty,
<br /> The proponents of (pod Irradlatlon pl Irradla Uon "have not prbduced any lrowport of radioactive material,
<br /> ridicule these concerns. Opponents, proJecllons of the actual economic. or production Of new isotopes: handling
<br /> y poorly trained personnel and oth-
<br /> thty say, are Luddites, the same kind other, beneilts of longer shelf Ilfe,
<br /> of people who once opposed paslcur- aspeclally In a developed country that era we haven't teen thought of yet."
<br /> (zed milk. Proponents see the process hoe sn abundam food supply." The Because of consumer resistance lu
<br /> not only as a way to extend the shelf Wellness Leller gcea on to Say. Irradiated loods, many companies,
<br /> life of perlchaDlei Ilkt atrewberrles ^Thou h It's also been cl¦Imed that inGuding Kraft, Ctxtagra, Kellogg,
<br /> without uain ehemlcds, but also as a 6 A.& P. and Kentucky Fried Chicken,
<br /> wa to kill harmful bacteria Ilke the Irradlellon will make Insectlcldea have cold n0 to them. 50 have some
<br /> Y and funglc{dee obsolete. there's some states. New York and New Jersey
<br /> salmonella In poultry, a widespread evidence that certain foods maybe have moratorluma On the sale of Irra-
<br /> problem. (Recently 9 noncom rpVlr- more vulne ra Dle to the ravages Of
<br /> sisl method to kill salmonella has fungi and Insects alter Irradlatlon.,, dieted food, and Maine has an auP
<br /> right ban.
<br /> proven succeesful In testa. It involves
<br /> dipping me ca rcacses In a Dath of Senator Paulck J. Leahy, Dema•
<br /> oral of Vermom and chairman of the
<br /> water and triaodlum phosphate, a
<br /> chemical used m lood processing) Senate Agriculture Coen mittee, has
<br /> Groups as diverse as the Public naked IA! Agrlcullurp Depart meat to
<br /> Citizen's Heahh Research Group. the Oelermint Iht SalelY of Irredleted
<br /> looda before they ate ptrmiUed on
<br /> the market.
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