[PEN-L:34270] RE: Irradiated Beef in School Lunches

["Devine, James" <jdevine@xxxxxxx>]

Title: RE: [PEN-L:34269] Irradiated Beef in School Lunches

 Eric Schlosser, in his FAST FOOD NATION, has one of the best points against irradiation of meat: he quotes someone saying that irradiation simply allows the meat-packers to avoid dealing with the root causes of E. Coli and the like, i.e., the crowded and totally unsanitary conditions of feed-lots.

Jim

-----Original Message-----
From: Yoshie Furuhashi
To: pen-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: 2/1/2003 12:36 PM
Subject: [PEN-L:34269] Irradiated Beef in School Lunches

NYT  January 29, 2003
The Question of Irradiated Beef in Lunchrooms
By MARIAN BURROS

IRRADIATED beef may be coming soon to your local school cafeteria.

The farm bill that was passed last May directs the Agriculture
Department to buy irradiated beef for the federal school lunch
program. It will be up to local school districts to decide if they
want it.

Americans have been reluctant to buy food that is irradiated, a
process that uses electrons or gamma rays to kill harmful bacteria
like salmonella and E. coli 0157:H7, which cause food poisoning. Some
people fear, wrongly, that the food is radioactive. Others are
concerned that the process hasn't been tested well. They may be
correct.

Based on European studies showing the formation of cancer-causing
properties in irradiated fat, the European Union, which allows
irradiation only for certain spices and dried herbs, has voted not to
permit any further food irradiation until more studies have been done.
...