|
|
|
|
.
.
.
.
I am writing to say that I am against using Ionizing Radiation on human foods to control food-borne pathogens. We should clean up our feedlots and the plants where foods are prepared and packaged. By doing so we would protect ourselves and also help the environment. We should not radiate our food. It's getting dangerous down here...beam me up Scotty! Our Research Indicates the Consumer Will Approve of Food Irradiation When Told That It Is Good For Their Health!--Grocery Manufacturers Association . .
*** Food irradiation is a lopsided and dangerous way to deal with the problems
arising from a disease-ridden factory-farmed food system.
*** Don't Do It. Our food should come in a natural state. Most disease and disorder comes from tampering with food and calling it safe.
***Why are you allowing quick fixes rather than addressing root problems? This sort of dereliction of duty makes me ill. Shame on you. Begin doing your job and actually enforcing laws rather than coddling industry.
***Irradiating spinach, lettuce, etc will destroy vital nutrients as well as create carcinogens. Why would the FDA elect to do this rather than address the REAL problem? Could pharmaceutical lobbyists have been the major consideration in this decision? The health of Americans certainly wasn't.
*** I object to the FDA's recent approval of irradiated lettuce and spinach. It may be a "quick fix" to kill some harmful forms of bacteria, but the unintended consequences for the sake of convenience are greater than the benefits. Irradiating food may produce free radicals that harm our bodies, destroy nutrients, and form carcinogenic chemicals. These are only some of the consequences we are aware of. Who knows what information will come to light in the years ahead. Other alternatives exist to make our food supply safer and should be explored. I will be checking labels and will avoid purchasing all food that has undergone irradiation. It is not going to increase profits in the long run as consumers become informed and make conscientious choices about where their food comes from.
*** I cannot believe that you would consider such a thing as it would almost completely and suredly destroy not only the bacterias in food to which some may even be good but also would destroy the nutrients in the food as well. Please make sure you do all the homework before you mess around with the food supply. Lets make sure we have an ongoing healthy food supply first by encouraging agriculture to grow more for food.
***it should be illegal to irradiate our food before adequate research is done to prove it WORKS without dire consequences. if this is passed i will vote to get our agency irradiated and hopefully these follies to feed companies will stop with your untimely death of your job/
*** It is a 'perfect storm' of large monoculture crops and industrialized foods which have resulted in lowered immune systems. These are the problems to address. Irradiation is not the solution. It ia only a teeny, tiny band-aid on a large, festoring sore. You are missing the whole point by not looking at the entire picture. Companies and industrial producers have to be accountable even if it cuts into their bottom line. Put limits on the size of the operations and clean up the feed lots.
*** Please do not allow the irradiation of iceberg lettuce and spinach! you are in essence caving in to the whole frankenfood industry.
May I suggest you serve the above exclusively to a select group of your top FDA
employees for thirty days and see what happens to their health. But don't worry,
if you don't, someone else will, and document it on film and you will look foolish. Sincerely, Catherine E. Holmes, Volunteer Producer, Arlington Independent Media
***I go out of my way to make sure I do not consume food items which have been irradiated. Please reconsider making irradiation acceptable on any food items.
***To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing as a concerned consumer and mother to two healthy children to
request the immediate end of irradiation on lettuce and spinach, as well as
future implementations.
Eliminating irradiation as a means to kill bacteria will save money, as
irradiation equipment can be very costly. Instead, why not utilize those
resources on research and development as a combined effort to solve this
nationwide problem?
Irradiation destroys nutrients and puts people at risk for serious health
problems. As this nation's near-last resort on food safety, it is imperative
that you eliminate irradiation and keep Americans safe!
There are many alternative to irradiation, and I urge you to help seek out these
alternatives for lettuce and spinach bacteria control, and all other food products. Thank you, Angelica Epelbaum
*** We need the government to step up to the plate and, instead of the being part of the problem, have these pitiful factory farms clean up their act. We do not need to have food irradiated. Quit being so damn lazy and continue to add to the problems. Start the clean-up of food facilities no to nuked foods.
*** Although there are alternatives to providing the public with healthier foods, it seems that the factory farms and their practices are favored and therefore allowed to continue to contaminate our foods. I do not choose to purchase irradiated foods.
I believe that the factory farms need to change THEIR methods so that in the long
term, we all benefit as consumers. Factory Farming not only yields unimaginable
cruelty to the animals, but to the public as far as health. Who the hell wants
irradiated vegetables? Why must the public suffer the consequences of unethical
practices? The degree of profits are in direct proportion to the amount of greed.
Vegetables do not carry salmonella etc..., the way factory farming is not regulated is the cause of our present dilemma. Treat the cause, and leave vegetables out of it. In the long term, it's more profitable and ethical to come together and use alternatives. Maria B.
*** Please do not Irradiate food. I am strongly against this practice. Please reconsider.
***Your recent approval of irradiation of lettuce and spinach alarmed me. I strongly object to
irradiation of any food products, particularly when those products are not labeled. As a doctor, I have been following irradiation of food since the 1980's. I have read an Indian study demonstrating genetic abnormalities in persons consuming irradiated food so I do not believe irradiation is safe or has been thoroughly examined. Furthermore, irradiation creates free radical peroxidation of the food. That same peroxidation that kills microorganisms also destroys the nutritional content of the
food. If this rule goes into effect, I will only eat lettuce or spinach from a farmer I know personally, purchased at a Farmer's Market and will urge all my patients to do the same. Shame on you.
***With all the controversy around food irradiation, why not look for an alternative? Food irradiation changes the nutrients in the food and creates potential carcinogens, in addition to adding cell damaging free radicals.
Please reconsider this proposal and do NOT irradiate anything else. Our food
supply is already in enough jeopardy.
***This is completely unacceptable. We will not stand for this.
***It is time the government looked out for the health and well-being of its citizens, especially our children, who are often unable to speak for themselves. Stop protecting big business and industrial feed-lots by allowing them to radiate our food supply rather than requiring them to provide healthy food from the start. Look to European countries that understand the value of healthy food and a non-toxic environment. We cannot continue to exploit and degrade our soil and environment for short-term profit.
***Please do not proceed with this plan to irradiate vegetables. There are other ways to ensure safety, and I assure you that, with this threat from you looming, many of us will find those other ways and use them.Thank you.
Patricia Carew Rockland Community College
*** I'm writing to inform you that I adamantly disagree with the FDA proposing ionizing radiation of our food. It will destroy any nutrients that the food contains!! Do NOT propose ionizing radiation of our food.
*** I, nor my friends, nor family want irradiated foods, or herbs available in any grocery store or food market anywhere in the U.S.A. We desire to eat fresh, organic, unadulterated food....period!
***Irradiating food makes food more dangerous, not safer. Some major concerns with
food irradiation include:
-The formation of free radicals, which can set off chain reactions in the body
that destroy antioxidants, tear apart cell membranes, and make the body more
susceptible to cancer, diabetes, heart disease, liver damage, muscular breakdown
and other serious problems.
-Serious health problems in laboratory testing, including, including premature
death, fatal internal bleeding, cancer, stillbirths and other reproductive
problems, mutations and other genetic damage, organ malfunctions, stunted growth
and vitamin deficiencies.
-The creating mutant forms of dangerous bacteria, like E. coli and Salmonella
-Nutrient loss in foods, including the destruction of vitamins and essential
fatty acids.
-The formation of carcinogenic chemicals, like benzene and toluene.
-While irradiated lettuce and spinach must be labeled in supermarkets, there are
currently no labeling requirements for restaurants serving irradiated produce or
other items. Patrons and clients may consume irradiated lettuce and spinach in
the future without their knowledge, nor consent.
-There are many alternatives to irradiation.
***As a consumer, I would prefer not to eat irradiated food. I'm concerned over the fact that restaurants and other food providers would not have to label food as being irradiated. I'm concerned over the overcrowded feedlot conditions that have been implicated as the possible source of some E.Coli strains that have sickened people. Please consider policies that clean up these overcrowded feedlots, treat animals with more dignity and respect, and make our food in America more sustainable and safe.
Thank you, Dana Boyle, Pharm.D.
***Irradiating food is essentially the same thing as pasteurized milk products. The process of pasteurizing is bad for all parties involved and doesn't really solve the problem but rather just puts a bandaid over it. Why not put the effort in to solving the problem rather than being lazy and just putting a band-aid over the problem.
Solving the root of the problem shows everyone that you really care, putting a
band-aid over the problem shows that you're a lazy government.
Irradiating food makes food more dangerous, not safer. Some major concerns with
food irradiation include:
-The formation of free radicals, which can set off chain reactions in the body that destroy antioxidants, tear apart cell membranes, and make the body more
susceptible to cancer, diabetes, heart disease, liver damage, muscular breakdown
and other serious problems.
-Serious health problems in laboratory testing, including, including premature
death, fatal internal bleeding, cancer, stillbirths and other reproductive problems, mutations and other genetic damage, organ malfunctions, stunted growth and vitamin deficiencies.
-The creating mutant forms of dangerous bacteria, like E. coli and Salmonella
-Nutrient loss in foods, including the destruction of vitamins and essential fatty
acids.
-The formation of carcinogenic chemicals, like benzene and toluene.
-While irradiated lettuce and spinach must be labeled in supermarkets, there are
currently no labeling requirements for restaurants serving irradiated produce or
other items. Patrons and clients may consume irradiated lettuce and spinach in
the future without their knowledge, nor consent.
-There are other options besides irradiation. Find them and make them work
rather than being lazy and in the long run compromising the future's health.
***
I strongly oppose the irradiation of lettuce and spinach (of any food for that matter). This process has certainly not been proven safe. It does alter the food in a way I consider unacceptable. Common sense: if irradiating food kills harmful bacteria, it destroys positive attributes of the food as well, and is said to produce free radicals and carcinogenic elements.Marie Regis
*** As a Nurse Practitioner and a mother of school age children, I would like to express my concern for the new irradiation ruling. I feel that we should work
together with food packagers, handlers, and processors to make the current food
system safer instead of using potentially hazardous methods of food treatment
that could make our children and our increasing senior population sicker. Let's
promote good health with naturally healthy produce and not give processors an
easy out that could cost us big in the long run.
***1) If irradiation does NOT harm anything, then why use it on food in the first place?
2) The FDA should not allow tampering with our food! We are what we assimilate from our food. Any long term detriments would not be known until too late.
*** I disagree with irradiating food products. It does not address the root problem,
which is the cleanliness of the facilities in the first place. I ask for a
reconsideration. This will affect the health of the American people.
***
I want to thank the FDA for more irradiation. This will kill more USA citizens and
line the pockets of the corporations they protect.
***factory farms need to clean up their act and not rely on irradiating food it is unacceptable that I not be told if the food I'm consuming in a restaurant is irradiated I have a right to know!!!
***The irradiation of vegetables and meat should be banned. It is unnatural. It reduces nutritional value of the food. It can lead to the formation of carcinogenic compounds that stay on the food. In 8000 years of human
agriculture, it's never been necessary to irradiate our food. Instead of
blasting our food with X-rays, the FDA should instead clean up the factory farm
processes that lead to the E. coli and bacteria contamination in the first place.
***I strongly oppose irradiation. Increased use of radioactive materials will simply increase the huge number of accidental exposures. This is an industry not
prepared for radiations risks.
***The truth will come out about your actions to poison our food supply. You will be hunted down and required to face retribution. There is no place for you to hide. Stop the madness now and try to reclaim some dignity before the end of this time.
***Rather than dealing with the problems inherent in a disease-ridden factory-farmed food system, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced in mid-September it will allow the irradiation of lettuce and spinach. Food irradiation is the controversial practice of bombarding food with high levels of x-rays (ionizing radiation) in order to destroy disease causing pathogens. Unfortunately, in the process of irradiation, other hazards arise, like the creation of toxic free radicals, vitamin and nutrient loss, and the formation of carcinogenic chemicals. Please reconsider this decision and ban the use of irradiation!
***I cannot believe that rather than cleaning up the feedlots and corporate farms, you choose to allow untested irradiate foods onto unsuspecting consumers plates. I can't believe you can sleep at night. Hire more inspectors and get these farms that are contaminating everything to clean up their act. Sincerely, Kathi ermter
***This is a dangerous band-aid approach to a small problem. Do you not understand the hazards inherent in irradiated food, or do you just not care? Consumers do not want more carcinogenic, less nutritious food. Please
reconsider.
***Irradiation is NOT the answer. This opens the door for a host of other problems in the future as our food is destabilized and denatured.'
I am totally opposed to the FDA approving the irradiation of lettuce and spinach.
Barbara Hartley
*** As a long time worker in food service regulation, an Administrator over Environmental Health, and now a Health Officer I find it appalling that the federal government is considering a band aid measure such as this. The root of the problem appears to be the expanding practice of land application of animal effluent. Although this is a measure to control foodborne illness as a result of harmful bacteria on crops such as lettuce and spinach it does not address such concerns that will remain as a result of antibiotics and hormones that are present in this land application material. The long term affects of this practice will likely be seen in chronic disease and will not be quickly identified with the land application practices.
In addition "The overall effects of ionizing radiation on carbohydrates are
basically the same as those caused by cooking and other food processing
treatments" This may negate many of the benefits of eating raw produce
products. What enzymes and undetected nutrients available in raw produce are
destroyed in this process? I believe the research does not satisfy this concern.
In summary, it is not acceptable to resort to Ionizing radiotion when there are
solutions that can be achieved at the source of the issue.
***Wouldn't it make more sense to deal with the real problems, which originates in
the factory animal farms? There is no longer any way to go and get real, fresh produce/salads etc at a restaurant, and no way for my children to eat real, healthy food when we eat out at a restaurant, unless we buy all organic and eat at organic restaurants. It is well known that irradiation, at the least, cooks out the "fresh" from the spinach etc., and you are left with what, I guess fiber and free radicals? When will the FDA start protecting the public instead of protecting the industries it regulates? Will the FDA require the irradiation of ALL produce?
*** I am writing to strongly oppose the proposal to irradiate lettuce and spinach. We need to clean up the mess in our food delivery channels by improving the sanitation, not by irradiating contaminated food. Irradiation degrades the quality of food for every body. Yes, bacterial contamination is a serious issue in the food delivery chain. Let's do the job right and get more inspectors out there and create better standards to prevent the problems in the first place.
***First off the logo chosen is very misleading. It's a very friendly and inviting looking logo. If a consumer doesn't know what the logo stands for, they will think they are buying a healthy or earth friendly product. The logo should be more of a warning type logo, in red and dangerous looking, since the product is now a hazard, the logo should match. When you walk into a doctors office they have red warning labels for the x-ray area, well, then "x-rayed" food should have the same type of label. Don't 'greenwash" this logo and make it look friendly and appealing to the consumer as if they were doing something good by purchasing that toxic spinach.
Secondly, consumers don't want more toxins, and less nutrition in their food. We
need all the live nutrients we can get from our foods. Stop killing our
nutritional values. Pesticides, irradiation.. when will it end? Keep Food Alive!
***There are many alternatives to irradiating lettuce and spinach. Why not make the factories clean up their act's, by putting in the proper public restrooms and hand cleaning stations all through out the facilities. Also teaching better cleanliness to the factory workers all the way through the processes. Don't do this to our foods. Thank you!
Evelyn Meredith
*** I say NO to the use of radiation on our food. Rather, you should eliminate CAFO's, set a size limit on feedlots that makes the waste manageable, and control their waste discharges so that they do not contaminate food.
***FDA - Regarding nuking spinach and lettuce - where do you come up with these ideas???? Even in Russia - they don't allow the sale of microwave ovens because they considered them too dangerous! Irradiating foods changes their molecular structure into something the body doesn't quite know what to do with.
Irradiating foods would deplete the nutritive value of any food. Why, do we dare
ask, would you WANT TO PURPOSELY DO THAT??? Since Big Agri Bs practices DO NOT
leave the soil fallow, or rotate crops as Organic Farming practices do, much of
our soil is severely depleted and much of our food is already devoid of many
nutrients. The idea of nuking food to deplete it of the last remaining
nutrients - leaves us with zero nutrients even though it looks and tastes like
food!!! That would be considered Criminal Neglect on your part - since foods
that contain little, or no nutrients create disease - the very thing you are
suggesting nuking food would prevent.
What causes the viruses, salmonella, bacteria and ecoli???? Unhealthy farming
practices.For thousands of years our farming practices have always worked. But
in the toxic world of Big Agri Factory Farming - the pollution from pesticides,
fungicides, animal waste, etc.,is contaminating our land, our water, soil, air,
and animals, people,and ultimately our global environment.
As an American citizen - I demand that you start fixing the root of our farming
problems - by not subsidizing Big Agri Bs, and transitioning factory farms into
completely organic farms; instead of coming up such a dangerous idea as
irradiating our food, depleting the little nutrients that are left in it even
more, and wasting our tax payer dollars to do so. Radiation isn't healthy for
people - why would you assume it's healthy for our food supply????
Irradiating food makes food more dangerous, not safer. Some major concerns with
food irradiation include:
-The formation of free radicals, which can set off chain reactions in the body
that destroy antioxidants, tear apart cell membranes, and make the body more
susceptible to cancer, diabetes, heart disease, liver damage, muscular breakdown
and other serious problems.
-Serious health problems in laboratory testing, including, including premature
death, fatal internal bleeding, cancer, stillbirths and other reproductive
problems, mutations and other genetic damage, organ malfunctions, stunted growth
and vitamin deficiencies.
-The creating mutant forms of dangerous bacteria, like E. coli and Salmonella
-Nutrient loss in foods, including the destruction of vitamins and essential
fatty acids.
-The formation of carcinogenic chemicals, like benzene and toluene.
-While irradiated lettuce and spinach must be labeled in supermarkets, there are
currently no labeling requirements for restaurants serving irradiated produce or
other items. Patrons and clients may consume irradiated lettuce and spinach in
the future without their knowledge, nor consent.
-There are many alternatives to irradiation. The most practical one would be to
transition every Factory Farm into an organic farm - for the sake of global
warming (no pesticides, fungicides, toxic runoff from animal waste in our water
ways), completely nutritious food, filled with nutrients - no wasting our tax
dollars for irradiating our food supply (a completely unnecessary and dangerous
idea).
I have no faith in the FDA as stewards of our health in this country. You have
allowed genetically modified food into the food supply, and refuse to label
gmo's, so that most people are unaware of that fact. If these foods were labeled
- no one would purposely buy them. You have allowed rBGH hormones in dairy,
aspartame in hundreds of foods, etc. You are paid as government servants to
protect American citizens. Do your job.
*** First, thank you for this opportunity to express my comment on the irradiation of spinach and lettuce in the markets. I am opposed to the process of food irradiation. Please work with the farms to ensure that food is raised using responsible, best agricultural practices rather than exposing the delicate leaf crops, such as spinach and lettuce, to irradiation.
Additionally, the history of the irradiation industry is pock-marked with
accidents such as spills of irradiated water into the public sewage system. It
is the sick child of a sick parent, the nuclear industry itself. Until there is
clear and definite evidence for the safety of irradiated foods, please do not
allow the foods we feed our families to be irradiated.
***Please do not irradiate our food. There are alternatives - use them!!!
***Please exercise control over food safety by cleaning up industrial feed lots instead
of irradiating our food. Food irradiation produces carcinogenic chemicals and
destroys many nutrients in the foods. The health of our nation's citizens is at
stake here.
*** I don't support the irradiation of lettuce and spinach. We need to to protect ourselves and children , we need to do what we can for ourselves and our children to make sure the food we it is clean and nurtritious , not jacked full or harmful pesticides and chemicals. I do not like the fact that my child will be eating lunch at school and I have no way of knowing if she is in fact eating vegetables treated with high levels of x rays . Its like we dont even have a choice anymore.
*** I am against irradiating of our food. I have noticed differences in our children and our life style and the behavior of or children with all of the chemicals and hormones. Why can't we just clean up our act of food processing instead of covering up the problems which create more problems in people?
***Please do not irradiate my food. I have many food sensitivities and cannot handle yet another alteration of my food, especially the vegetables I eat.
As a health care practitioner and a well-studied nutritionist of many years, I am
aware of the fact that our food that is grown in the earth, is already depleted
because of over-farming land and use of chemical fertilizers. I have no doubt, that there is not adequate research to allay any of my fears about the loss of nutrients and possible alteration of the molecular structure and integrity of the spinach and lettuce that you intend to irradiate. If you do have adequate research, I would like to see it. Sincerely, Janet Culp, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.
*** Heading down this path is a light band aid solution at best. The problems of
today's super farms and mass production have created the situation we find
ourselves in. Chemical toxins and nutrient loss is already prevalent in our food
supply and this "solution" does not change or address that fact it only adds to it. Please change your focus to non toxic solutions.
***Dear Government,
I do not agree with the recent move to allow the irradiation of spinach and lettuce. Irradiation poses health risks (including increased risk of cancer because of high free radical content and lack of nutrient and vitamin consumption which are broken down by the x-rays) that I, nor any American, should have to take.
I strongly encourage and would like to see alternatives to irradiation being heavily looked into, including cleaning up packing factories and the way food is handled to prevent the need to "zap" food stuff clean.
In our great democracy allow people to make a choice and demand that irradiated
food stuff be PROPERLY labeled in a conspicuous place on the front of the
package, along with comments on possible health risks in eating foods irradiated.
I do not want my spinach and lettuce irradiated. Thank You
***CLEAN UP OUR FOOD SUPPLY!!!!!!!!!
***I am deeply offended that the FDA will be allowing lettuce and spinach. I am trying very hard to eat in such a way that will protect my health. It is very difficult thanks to the carelessness of our governmental organizations that are allowing our food supply to be harmed beyond belief.
And now irradiating lettuce and spinach. Just another reason not to eat out at
restaurants and I'm certain I'll now need to pay more money for spinach and lettuce that has not been irradiated.
I am appalled at this highly irresponsible decision and would like it changed.
Radiation will cause the destruction of antioxidants in our body by creating more free radicals.It will NOT make our food safer. It will harm our food.
Please reverse this decision. It is outrageous and totally unacceptable for the
most powerful country in the world to be allowing the most irresponsible decisions regarding the food supply of its citizens.
***Please think twice about how these actions will affect our future generations.
***Fresh produce should never be irradiated as this practice kills off many healthful
nutrients and enzymes as well as bacteria. Besides, you are missing the root of
the bacteria problem, which is contamination from factory farms. These
businesses house many more animals than the relatively small properties can
safely handle. It results in waterways contaminated by animal feces. When this
contaminated water is used by neighboring vegetable farms directly to irrigate
produce, the result is produce contaminated by e. coli.
Factory farms do not benefit anyone except for the profit margins they obtain for
the owners. They negatively affect the health of the animal and this ill health is
passed on to those who consume these diseased animals. Factory farms should
be made illegal and small sustainable family farms should once again be
promoted. When most of our food came from family owned farms, we never
heard of produce contaminated by e. coli! Lets take a step back!
*** Irradiation of lettuce may seem to some to be a high tech solution to the problem
of contamination in our food supply. But it cannot solve the further problems that will arise from the negligence and poor farming practices in current use by the food industry. Cleanliness begins at the source, and cannot possibly be replaced by quick-fix- irradiation of contaminated food.
Stop the food industry from contaminating vegetables with feed lot runoff, and you
have stopped the problem at the source.
Even wild animals know enough not to soil their own food supply. These devolved
farming methods could only come from people who are strangers to the land.
*** Please do not irradiate our food! it is absurd, unnecessary and dangerous. stop this foolishness.
***Stop irradiating our produce and other foods. You' re slowly killing us with your greedy policies that fatten the wallets of the higher ups . Stop taking money from the greedy large food companies and consider the health of all Americans and others all over the world.Your families could suffer as well. Support organic . It's better for the world. Thank you.
***FDA-1999-F-2405 Please remember that the process of Irradiation in the production, processing and handling of food not only effects the general population but your families as well.
***Clean-up industrial feedlots instead of irradiating our food!!!
Rather than dealing with the problems inherent in a disease-ridden
factory-farmed food system, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced in
mid-September it will allow the irradiation of lettuce and spinach. Food
irradiation is the controversial practice of bombarding food with high levels of
x-rays (ionizing radiation) in order to destroy disease causing pathogens.
Unfortunately, in the process of irradiation, other hazards arise, like the
creation of toxic free radicals, vitamin and nutrient loss, and the formation of
carcinogenic chemicals.
***Consumer Comments on Food Irradiation
bravenet.com
