HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0212.474 1996-1998 " r- HCR- #1 Box 5285
' Keaau, HI 9674;9
25 Jan. 1998 ~ -
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Dear County Council Members:
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There is a lot public sentiment against having a fry-'i~~'~~:v~i't~ ,'=;,,',',y;
irradiation plant on the Big Island." I, for one, am for
it.
I think those opposed have a lot of misinformation
(probably the same people who oppose flouridation of water).
People were afraid of microwave ovens when they first came out.
Now no one worries about their safety nor about damage to food.
Some people believe it will make food radioactive - a belief
reinforced by cartoons - yet that is as senseless as thinking
that a patient getting radiation treatment for cancer becomes
radioactive.
Some argue that it is a plot by the Energy Dept. to find a
use for spent nuclear fuel. Well, aren't we all in favor of
re-using and recycling? It would be wonderful to find a use
for stuff that we can not figure out how to store.
It is said that the only irradiated food successfully
marketed is spices, and that people on the mainland and
elsewhere won't buy irradiated food. The big majority of the
world's population (e.g the whole Third world) does not have
refrigeration and they use "long-life" milk which has an
unrefrigerated shelf life of several weeks. I've travelled
all over the world and see this milk everywhere I go (but not
in the U.S.). I can't cite a reference, but somewhere I heard
it is irradiated. As humans we steadily become educated - or
should. Consumers can become educated about irradiated
foods. In my grandmother's day, there was no market for
tomatoes - people thought they were poisonous.
Ensuring that our fruit is free of fruit flies - without
using insecticides - plus free of molds and other
rot-producing organisms, can be a big boon to our economy.
From time to time in scientific literature, including
medical literature, I see articles promoting food
irradiation; never any against it. People need to be
educated.
Sincerely/,
v
Diane L. Trembly M.D
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