Irradiated Foods!
Hey Serious Eaters,
Did you know that the FDA has decided to allow fresh iceberg lettuce and spinach producers to irradiate their products with ionizing radiation, they claim that this will have no "significant effect on the human environment." However, irradiation does change the nutritional content of foods. Scientists don't fully understand why, but there's extensive documentation that degradation occurs. You can comment on this ruling to let the FDA know how you feel about it at: www.regulations.gov!
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9 Comments:
I read about that this morning. It makes me pretty angry. I'll go on over now, and leave a reply. Thanks for the link.
Brownie at 3:47PM on 08/22/08
Who cares about iceberg, but spinach?? Why ruin a good thing? Probably money...
AliNC at 5:09PM on 08/22/08
Well, there was that E. coli outbreak on spinach that made me sad for so long, since for ages my go-to lunch in the dining hall was a spinach, black olive, and turkey breast salad. But I don't know, this ruling seems a bit off, I don't think I like it.
@AliNC I think iceberg lettuce has a nice crunch and a tasty bit of sweetness. It's not the best green ever, but it helps introduce people to lettuce salads. Gateway veg!
nightowl at 6:38PM on 08/22/08
Irradiating food is akin to putting lipstick on a pig, you can make it as pretty as you want but the pig's still there. Instead of fixing the health issues their response is, "hey lets just zap the food"! Here's a thought, if this irritating irradiating thing isn't enough motivation for folks to buy from responsible local producers, then I don't know what is.
Pavlov at 6:56PM on 08/22/08
I dunno, diarrhea causes the loss of a lot of natural nutrients we take in, too.
I'm pretty sure a lot of dried herbs we already buy are irradiated, aren't they? (Not that we eat herbs for their nutritional value.)
Cybele May at 7:18PM on 08/22/08
@NightOwl - Don't get me wrong, I eat iceberg. How could I live without a blue cheese wedge every once in a while? But, it seriously lacks in nutritive value compared to something like Romaine lettuce.
AliNC at 9:43PM on 08/22/08
Next thing you know they'll be cooking food!
srhcb at 10:39PM on 08/22/08
I've heard about irradiating food for some time now since I grew up in Hawaii, where fruits are irradiated for "export" to the mainland US/world. This isn't to say that because it's been going on for so long it makes it ok, but what alternatives would people prefer? More pesticides?
Hopefully this won't lull some farmers into becoming (even more) lax on sanitary conditions.
Cassaendra at 10:35AM on 08/23/08
I'm not opposed to irradiation, since it will curb certain bacteria that could be immediately life-threatening to certain members of the population (i.e. elderly and small childern). While it may change the nutritional value of the veggies, you can make up for the nutrients lost by eating other foods. I'm not saying irradiation is all goood, I'm just saying it's not all bad.
beth1 at 12:26PM on 08/23/08