How many times have you been to the dentist?s office or another medical practitioner?s office and been asked when the last time you had an x-ray was? Health professionals do this for a reason. The reason is that when it comes to exposure to radiation, to much is not a good thing.

The FDA just approved irradiation for lettuce and spinach. Maybe if they had done it sooner, tomatos would have been safer when paired with these greens in a salad. Sorry if you don?t get the humor, but where is it going to stop? We have a problem. Food born illness is on the increase around the world. If we want to keep the conversation local, we can look to Tomato?s, Jalapeño?s, Beef, Peanut Butter, dog food etc. in the USA during the last two years. The list however goes on and on. So, the supposition is that since we can?t trace it, control it or stop it let?s just give it some radiation.

For those that don?t understand what irradiation is, the Wikipedia definition is as follows;
Irradiation is the process by which an item is exposed to radiation. The exposure can be intentional, sometimes to serve a specific purpose, or it can be accidental. In common usage the term refers specifically to ionizing radiation, and to a level of radiation that will serve that specific purpose, rather than radiation exposure to normal levels of background radiation abnormal levels of radiation due to accidental exposure.

I know for this author, that when statements like all the evidence suggest there is not a risk does not make me personally comfortable. Meat was approved for irradiation in 2000, but as a follow on the FDA later approved the use of carbon monoxide gas to preserve coloring. If you go to your local store, you have a difficult time finding any of this meat. Let?s hope the same happens with produce. Your retailers have your best interests at heart, and generally won?t carry what you won?t eat. Please make sure you check your labels, and Bon appetite.

This author believes that the best opportunity for the elimination of food borne illness over time is a safe supply chain. This requires a database of suppliers with traceable inforamtion that goes beyond todays accepted standard of one forward one back.

I look forward to your comments.