
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 30, 1993                   TAG: 9309010280
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: RICHARD E. SINCERE JR.
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

IRRADIATION

NEARLY 40 percent of the poultry sold in the United States contains deadly salmonella bacteria. According to Consumers Research magazine, 40,000 cases of salmonella infections are reported each year, though experts believe this is only the tip of the iceberg - the actual number could be between 400,000 and 4 million. At least 500 people die each year from salmonella infections.

Salmonella is present in chicken, beef, pork, shellfish, raw milk, eggs and fish. It is almost impossible to avoid. However, a relatively safe, cheap, and simple method to prevent salmonella infections is available: ionized food processing, also known as food irradiation.

Because ``radiation'' is the Freddie Krueger of the anti-consumer network - the nightmare of groups founded and funded by Ralph Nader, as well as all manner of anti-nuclear activist groups - ionized food processing has not yet been fully accepted by American consumers. Yet after almost 35 years of tests and experiments, we know more about food irradiation - which uses low levels of safe radiation to break down the DNA of infectious bacteria and fungi - than almost any other form of food preservation. The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations recommends it as a means of preserving food for the hungry people of the Third World.

Still, fearmongering and irration-al beliefs about radiation have prevented the general use of food ionization, to the disadvantage of American consumers.

The Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow, a grass-roots consumers' organization, and two other groups, the American Council on Science and Health and the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology, have been conducting a nationwide campaign to encourage use of ionized food preservation. Under the banner of the Committee for Ionized Food Processing, the groups work to get the word out to consumers and grocers across the United States. Their message includes these points:

Food irradiation delays spoilage. We lose millions of dollars worth of produce and meats each year due to spoilage. Ionizing radiation can delay the spoilage of highly perishable fresh fish and shellfish, and prolong the shelf life of fruits such as strawberries.

Food irradiation is a substitute for toxic pesticides. A 1982 report by the American Council on Science and Health said that ``low-dose irradiation can kill insects in grains and other stored foods'' and can substitute for fumigants that are hazardous to farm workers and food handlers.

Food irradiation eliminates trichinosis hazards in pork.

Food irradiation kills salmonella and other infectious germs.

Despite all these advantages, significant opposition to ionized food processing still exists. Alaska, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York and Oregon are considering legislation that would ban the sale and distribution of ionized foods; Maine has already done so. These laws carry harsh penalties for offenders.

Fears of contamination from food irradiation are as foolish as fears about contamination from a microwave oven, a common household appliance. Every form of cooking is, in essence, a form of radiation. A barbecue uses the radiation from flames; sun-dried tomatoes use the radiation from the sun's rays, smoked salmon is preserved with the radiation of burning hickory; an egg is poached with electric stovetop radiation. To deny American consumers inexpensive, safe and disease-free fruits, meats and vegetables on the basis of anti-nuclear hysteria is simply bad policy.

\ Richard E. Sincere Jr. is vice-chairman of the Libertarian Party of Virginia.

by CNB