Safe Food_ Bacteria, Biotechnology, and Bioterrorism - Marion Nestle [77]
Despite such advantages, the process is highly controversial and has been slow to gain acceptance. The very idea of irradiation induces dread and outrage, not least because it involves radiation, a foreign and personally uncontrollable technology. It also cannot guarantee sterility, and it treats rather than prevents safety problems. At best, irradiation is an end-stage technological fix.
The controversy is best understood in historical context. During World War II, the U.S. Army discovered that irradiated ground beef stayed fresh longer. Companies developed methods for commercial use by the late 1950S, but a congressional act in 1958 classified irradiation as, of all things, a food additive. This meant that companies had to prove the safety of irradiated foods before the FDA would authorize their sale. Because the companies thought the public would not accept such foods, they did not bother to press for approval.
In the early 1960S, the FDA began to authorize irradiation for limited use, one food at a time: first wheat and wheat flour; then spices, dried vegetable seasonings, pork, and chicken products for the general public; and then steak and turkey for astronauts. In turn, the USDA authorized irradiation for pork, poultry, and beef. Both agencies work to expand this list. In 2002, for example, the USDA proposed to permit Hawaii to export irradiated peppers, eggplants, mangoes, pineapples, squash, and tomatoes to the mainland.20 Overall, more than 35 countries have approved irradiation as a means to preserve more than 50 different kinds of foods. Numerous national and international organizations have endorsed the process, among them health and food technology associations and—most enthusiastically—groups representing irradiation companies.
In the United States, the FDA requires irradiated foods to be labeled “treated with (or by) radiation” and to display the international symbol of irradiation—the radura—printed in green. As shown in figure 9, the radura symbol resembles the logo of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and is meant to reassure the public that irradiated foods are ecologically correct, or “green.” As we will see, supporters of irradiation say that any disclosure of the process is contrary to the public interest, and they consistently demand more favorable labeling requirements or—preferably—none at all.
Because fears of public disapproval inhibited development of the irradiation industry, the first multipurpose commercial food plant did not open until 1991. In 1994, Isomedix, a New Jersey company with 16 plants that irradiate medical devices and food packaging materials, petitioned the FDA to authorize irradiation of raw beef and lamb. Cattlemen strongly supported the petition and discussed the matter with their friends in Congress. Congress, in turn, pressured the USDA and FDA to come to a rapid decision. In 1997, during the period when USDA Secretary Dan Glickman was attempting to convince the Senate agriculture committee that his department should be allowed to issue mandatory recalls of contaminated meat, the senators “reacted skeptically, saying the plan would impose unnecessary new regulations when the focus should be on emerging technology like irradiation.”21 that irradiate medical devices and food packaging materials, petitioned the FDA to authorize irradiation of raw beef and lamb. Cattlemen strongly supported the petition and discussed the matter with their friends in Congress. Congress, in turn, pressured the USDA and FDA to come to a rapid decision. In 1997, during the period when USDA Secretary