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*** Please take caution when messing with our food supply. Take the high road and the tough, right route for the best results. Thank you, Kristina R.
Is anyone in your organization able to take ownership and responsibility to how
our foods have been produced for millions of years? What's changed? Once you
denature a food you remove its life force, it's essential MICRONUTRIENTS (aka
vitamins, mineral, bacteria, enzymes, etc). If according to a recent report broccoli comes out 4% alive after undergoing a one minute heating process in a
microwave, what do you think is going to happen to the foods (Lettuce and
spinach) when you do the same?
Think about it people, wake up and start focusing on life and using the methods
of farming we've been practicing for years. The FDA takes far more than it
provides to the public, including lives.
We all know this and I've said before you people just keep adding more nails in
your coffin. You'll be removed from power and responsibility by 2010. That is an exciting time for all us American's and Canadian's Trust me I know Sending you all love M. A. L. Mulliner ***I STRONGLY believe that many Americans who expect SAFE food would prefer that the FDA deal with the CAUSES of contamination. If health and safety standards were strictly enforced, the FDA would not experience the need to irradiate food. I do not have any desire to eat ANYTHING that has been irradiated. The long-term effects on the human body are unknown. No serious research has ever been done -- longevity studies -- over several generations of laboratory animals.
Until this research is completed, please enforce safety checks. The FDA exists
for the benefit of consumers and not producers.
***irradiating food is bad, mkay...You should leave it the way nature made it, I sure as he'll won't be eating any of that.
Please help stop the irradiation of our foods.
***DO NOT allow foods to be irradiated without being labeled as such! Irradiation destroys nutrients in food vital for life! No country can survive it's food industry being ravaged like this!
***Why do we want to empower an industry that already creates known unhealthy side effects and has the potential to create super resistant bacteria? It would be much safer and basically more effective to create safe and sanitary conditions in which our food is produced and marketed.
*** It is time the FDA started looking out for the people of this country instead of making excuses for the corporations. Instead of irradiation of our food sources, lets make it mandatory that all agribusiness grow, process and handle food in a safe way. Irradiation takes away from the food we eat, making it less nutritious and more harmful to the consumer. When will we ever learn. Organic is the way to go. Keeping our Organic standards at the highest level provides
food for our nation, good food, healthy food, safe food. It is time to make the
Agri business responsible in providing that good, healthy, safe food too.
*** Please do not allow the process of irradiation to be approved, radiation is not something we as humans need in our bodies. Remember this is harmful to us as all.
*** We object to any irradiation of food products including spinach and lettuce. The FDA needs to clean up industrial feedlots vs irradiating our food!
*** I am tired of my government conceding to big business and selling out my children. We can not afford to eat only organic food but more and more I find that we can no longer afford not to. Very saddened to hear of one more disgusting government deed. There is currently no way to label irradiated spinach in a restaurant or at my children's school to know if it has known by-product carcinogens in it. Very very Bad.
*** I cannot believe that you have voted for such a short sighted "fix". Irradiating
spinach and lettuce is like putting a band-aid on an individual that is having a heart attack. This vote tells me that you are not really interested in public health (in the long run) and that some big business must be funding you.
It does not take much awareness to realize that our food supply is in need of an overhaul but it seems that you have neither the desire nor the care to tackle the bigger issues.
I can rest assured that this behavior will force the individual citizens to take personal action such as growing more of their own foods and accessing local farmers. Maybe this decision is good in the long run of that becomes the case.
In short...I strongly disagree with your decision to irradiate spinach and lettuce. I truly am in disbelief at your shortsightedness.
Beth Power
***Dear Sir/Madam, If it was true and you people were the guardians of our Nations health, why do you choose to become 'prostitutes' to our lands, oceans and air by allowing X-ray (ionizing radiation) in order to destroy disease causing pathogens. You already know that in this process of irradiation other hazards arise, like the creation of toxic free radicals, vitamin and nutrient loss, and the formation of carcinogenic chemicals.
You have become the biggest known killer and parasite organization on this planet.
***Irradiating foods rather than fixing the problems with growing and production is a ridiculous waste of money and regulations. I'm sure the strong interest in irradiation has some roots in a government contractor that would really love to "do this" for the government.
***Use of Ionizing Radiation for the Control of Food-Borne Pathogens and Infectious Protozoa, .....'Be the Change you Wish to See'...... Gandhi
Is this really the change you wish to see? Or wouldn't you consider this a typical American 'quick fix' ? Work smarter people, that means include some heart in your resolutions. Isn't it true that true wisdom comes when the mind and heart converge. Where is the wisdom in using radiation for controlling our food supply.
This is BEYOND ridiculous people. You are so down the wrong road, that alone
makes me sick, forget about the quality controls you put on our food.
***
I am very concerned about the effects of allowing any food to be irradiated.
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. Visit OCA's Irradiation Alternatives page for more information.
For these reasons I hope you will decide that irradiating food is not the way to protect the American people's food supply. Kata Orndorff
***Stop the irradiation of our produce. We need the nutrients and irradiations destroys all living enzymes.
***How dare the FDA feed irradiated food to the American Public? The People of America do not want irradiated food. It is a dismal disgrace that the FDA cannot keep Americans safe from this scourge, and cannot assure the People of America safe, clean, natural food, which is a fundamental need of every individual.
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 creation of 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.
-The FDA is duping American restaurant patrons by hiding irradiated food on their plates, since there are currently no labeling requirements for restaurants serving irradiated produce or other altered items. It is unacceptable that restaurant patrons and clients may consume irradiated lettuce and spinach in the future without their knowledge, nor consent.
The FDA is funded by American taxpayers, and the FDA has a solemn obligation
to keep our food supply safe. The FDA needs to wake up and clean up its act by cleaning up the food industry, and not by forcing irradiated food on the
unsuspecting American Public.
*** Irradiating lettuce and spinach would reduce quality of these foods. I oppose this proposed regulation.
***PLEASE DO NOT APPROVE THE PRACTICE OF FOOD IRRADIATION. As a consumer, I consider this practice unsafe.
***Please consider a more pro-active way to eliminate pathogenic contamination of our food supply. It seems improper to use irradiation that would damage the nutritional profile of our food in order to eliminate pathogenic contamination that should not be present in the first place. Thank you for your consideration.
*** I strongly oppose the use of radiation on any consumer food products, especially the recent use slated for lettuce and spinach! I would rather risk eating bacteria than have my food irradiated... this will destroy vitamins and crucial digestive enzymes needed to digest those foods, and will mutate cells in those produce products. This is a dangerous practice and must be stopped - AND LABELED if ever used both in stores and in restaurants that serve such products!
*** Stop Food Radiation. With the obvious problems in feedlots across the country, I would think you would have better things to do with your time. Clean them up and the bacterias found on (more and more) food will go away. Please let common sense and morality rule.
*** treat the cause not the symptoms-- isn't that obvious? factory farming is the cause. irradiating food doesn't address this, and creates a host of new problems.
***To the FDA, I am writing this comment to express my opposition to the use of ionizing radiation on human food, and, in this particular matter, on spinach and lettuce.
There is ample evidence that irradiation of organic materials creates free
radicals and carcinogens and destroys nutrients. This method is proposed as a
safeguard against recent pathogen outbreaks in our food supply, but it is the
wrong solution. We need to de-industrialize and de-centralize our food
processing, and separate animal production from vegetable production. These
measures would safeguard our food supply from human pathogen infestation.
Irradiation is simply a go-around of these more logical measures and will
further endanger our food supply. I urge the FDA to consider the risks that
irradiation represents and listen to the people of the United States who are
overwhelmingly against this destructive and dangerous form of food processing.
Do not allow our food to be irradiated. Thank You
Sincerely Nicholas Rosenstock
***While food for personal consumption from supermarkets will be labeled as irradiated, we are concerned about eating foods that are irradiated, especially in younger populations. Setting aside
public health and safety to conserve costs in the short-term will increase the costs in the longer term as more people become unhealthy, obese and disease ridden due to lack of real nutrition, and introduction of more free-radicals and chemicals in our diets. Short term gains at a long-term cost.
That's no way to run a government institution.
Please take our future health into consideration and clean up factories, have foods packaged closer to where the crops are harvested, and stop tormenting our food chain at the cost of the health and lives of our own and future generations. Criss Ittermann
***We are very opposed to irradiating any food.
***I am thoroughly against irradiating our food sources. Diversify our farms and cease our dangerous, unsafe industrialized and centralized monoculture farming. This will be for our national security. The bottom line isn't always the bottom line - in the long run.
***lean-up industrial feedlots instead of irradiating our food such as lettuce and spinach.
*** Please think more carefully about irradiating our food. And for heaven's sake, always provide clear labeling for the consumer at all points (farm to grocery store to menus at restaurants and institutions) so that we will maintain our freedom of choice. Between GMOs, mass feedlots and food processing, we are painting ourselves into a corner healthwise. Not to mention that our practices are decreasing our ability to sell our products over seas already.
Private citizen with a BS Animal Science, TAMU, College Station
***Please stop Radiation for the Control of Food-Borne Pathogens. You are not
protecting the public, but instead adding additional health risks. Instead of
Radiation, take a closer look at the practices of food production and factory
farming, and clean those areas up.
***PLEASE do not irradiate all of our produce. That's not fixing the problem, for one. Two, it will further lead to additional malnourishment in our country.
ALSO, PLEASE require irradiated foods to be labeled, so that consumers can
make their own choices. It's NOT that difficult. Full disclosure, just like buying a home, right? It's a good thing.
***Irradiation is not needed in the production, processing, and handling of food, particularly lettuce and spinach. The health benefits (if at all, beyond simple washing of hands and produce) do not outweigh the long-term risks. This legislation provides no protection to the consumer eating in restaurants, institutions, and nursing/extended care facilities as those consumers have little or no way of knowing if the food they are eating has been irradiated.
Do not pass this regulation. The needed focus is on cleanliness in factory farms and more thorough washing of produce and hands of workers.
*** As an organic consumer, I want to know that the food I purchase is grown without
synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, or irradiated... I am deeply disturbed that
you are allowing irradiated spinach and lettuce to be approved. Instead you
should be focusing on the unhealthy practices of large scale agra-business, and
instead send a message that smaller scale diverse, organic farming is the
answer... My faith in the FDA is diminished. I understand the need to protect
the public from food-borne pathogens, and there is a point where you overstep
your bounds and ultimately create an food product that does more damage in the
long run than the food-borne pathogen does...Thank you for reading my comments.
***I am against the irradiation of spinach and lettuce.
***Food irradiation is the controversial practice of bombarding food with high levels of x-rays (ionizing radiation) in order to destroy disease causing pathogens. 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.
***Irradiating food is dangerous, a risk to health and well being, and should never be allowed. Food sources can be healthy naturally if properly maintained and monitored.
***I am opposed to irradiating food as a "safety" measure. Our food supply is already outstandingly safe. Irradiating food is not necessary and has possible negative health implications.
Please support sustainable agriculture and small, local sources of food. This is best for the environment and best for the consumer.
***Irradiating vegetables or any food seems the wrong and dangerous approach of solving problems. As a researcher in healthcare I am completely against it.
***Please stop irradiating our food! I don't want to consume food that has been radiated. Clean up the industrial feedlots instead! I want clean, non-radiated, chemical free food for my family.
thank you
***It is wrong to endanger the American people by irradiating food. Radiation causes nutrient loss in the body and creates free-radicals, which can cause sickness and disease in the long-term. You are creating a long-term problem that will affect EVERY American who consumes these irradiated foods to fix a short-term problem that does not even affect a large percentage of the population. Please stick to the real problem at hand, which is the poor processing practices of the companies providing the food."
I am very concerned with this as we eat tons of lettuce! please do not let a few outbreaks scare you. we should be washing our produce thoroughly.
thank you, Myra Schoenberg
***Instead of allowing food growers to irradiate spinach and lettuce, here's an idea -- require the factory farms to clean up their act and grow these foods in a clean and disease-free environment.
While irradiation can destroy pathogens, 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.
I prefer to eat spinach and lettuce without carcinogenic chemicals and toxic free radicals. These two irradiated foods will require a food label when sold in a supermarket. However, when I eat in a restaurant, I will have no way of knowing whether or not the spinach and lettuce have been irradiated. And neither will children in schools, people in hospitals, or older adults in nursing homes.
***Irradiating food is not an acceptable way of dealing with the pathogens on food. It destroys the vitamins and minerals necessary for health, among other things.
People can choose to injest products like prescription drugs or not, but
irradiating food is a hidden danger to the public.. I strongly disagree with
the practice of irradiating spinach and lettuce.
***IT'S FOOD!!! THINK ABOUT IT!!!! The government right now is straight out of a scary fiction novel- you want to IRRADIATE food. You have no idea of the science behind this. STOP and THINK.
*** I am concerned, irradiation might divert attention away from poor working conditions, sanitation, and poor food-handling procedures that lead to contamination.
Food irradiation is a way to "clean up" problems that are created by the food
production chain.
The FDA don't have the will to really protect consumers from unsafe food and
therefore is authorizing food irradiation to maintain the apparent quality of certain perishable food for a longer period of time, and in order to destroy disease causing pathogens. The irradiation process causes the creation of toxic free radicals, vitamin and nutrient loss.
Ah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
***The FDA should be looking after the interests of the consumer, not the interests of the large agricultural corporations.
Stop the introduction of irradiated foods. It is not necessary and we do not want it. Garry Kidson
***We have been warring on the farms and orchards since world war 1. www.thefutureoffood.com
It is high past time for humans to cooperate with nature and quit trying to
subdue IT. Livestock production is the next cooperate after factories for pollution and global warming. Ahead of cars. We treat animals like wrenches.( www.tedtalk.com Mark Bittman: What's wrong with what we eat)
Organic food has more nutrition than conventional farming.
THE BEE'S ARE LEAVING & DYING BECAUSE OF OUR TOXIC WAY OF GROWING FOOD.
Pasteur said to"go back to RAW milk after the infection was gone. Pasteurized
milk is not healthy" Irradiation is deadly for our health. Change the way we
treat nature and nature will take care of us!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YkNkscBEp0
***Irradiation will only create new pathogens and infectious protozoa etc .......... There are many other ways to prevent the above without creating a new industry to interfere with the health content of the food we consume. Stop letting corporations dictate protocol and put the consumer first. The purpose of eating is to NOURISH the body.........if you kill the nutrition WHY eat ............????
***Hey folks, Please leave our fresh produce alone as GOD made them. How can Zapping them with Gamma Rays fix what the Good Lord provides for us unbroken. It ain't broke don't fix it. Haven't you got real broken things to fix? I can name a thousand things you could be fixing. Leave our fresh veggies alone.
***stop irradiating our food and clean up how you handle the food instead...thank you
***I would urge you to investigate factory farming and look at the unsanitary conditions there before irradiating the food we eat which can potentially cause increased numbers of disease in the American population. Irradiation does not seem like a sensible solution, it's a means around doing the dirty work cleaning up the factory farming standards in the country.
Thank you for allowing my comments to be heard,
***I am completely opposed to the radiation of our food. Clean up the food processing industries
instead. Thank you.
***There is no other conclusion that can be made about FDA approval of the irradiation of lettuce and spinach -- the FDA must be in the back pocket of the food industry.
The irradiation of lettuce and spinach creates high levels of x-rays (ionizing
radiation) in order to destroy disease causing pathogens. The process of
irradiation creates toxic free radicals, vitamin and nutrient loss, and formation of carcinogenic chemicals. This is science the FDA cannot deny, regardless of the propaganda put out by the food industry.
This is bureaucratic insanity!
Yes, the FDA requires lettuce, spinach and other irradiated food to be labeled if purchased in a grocery store, but the FDA does not require the notification of the public if they eat at restaurants, schools, hospitals, nursing homes, military installations and other institutions.
This is bureaucratic insanity!
Please stop the practice of irradiation -- now, before it is too late.
*** I oppose irradiation of foods, especially my lettuce and spinach. I want to be able to buy food that is clean by practices of cleanliness in production practices. I oppose irradiation for several reasons, beginning with loss of nutrients, but am also concerned regarding its effects on microorganisms.
Please note my opposition to irradiation of our foods. Thank you.
*** As a member of a farming family, I am writing to urge the FDA to reject the
irradiation of spinach and lettuce, or indeed any other foods. 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.In the process of irradiation, other hazards arise, like the creation of free radicals, vitamin and nutrient loss, and the formation of carcinogenic chemicals.
This irresponsible policy should not be implemented. Better alternatives exist,
foremost among them good agricultural practices. For example, farmers and
processing plants should improve sanitation practices, water used for irrigation and processing should be regularly tested for E. coli, and production plants should be routinely inspected. Concentrated animal feeding operations near farmland where produce is grown should be regulated. Where this is not sufficient, heat-pasteurization, ultra-high temperature processing, UV radiation, or ozone processing can be used, among other methods.
Thank you for your attention. Sincerely, Dozier Bell
***As a member of the Organic Consumers Association, I am sending you this note in protest
against allowing the irradiation of food. Here are my reasons:
I understand that irradiation can form 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.
Irradiation can create mutant forms of dangerous bacteria, like E. coli and Salmonella. Can cause nutrient loss in foods, including the destruction of vitamins and essential fatty acids. Can cause 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. This is unAmerican.
***We are very disturbed with the FDA and US government's decision to Irradiate our lettuce and spinach. Why doesn't the government beef up the inspection areas. Why should we be subject to poisoned food in our supermarkets. I cannot believe we as Americans are not being protected from these hazards. I will not be purchasing these items unless they are organic. I will also grow my own in my own hazard free garden. It seems we are going backwards and have become very lazy in solving important issues especially when it concerns American men, women and innocent children.
*** This is not a good solution. Clean up factory farms instead of ruining the nutritional value of fresh food.
***Instead of irradiating food, please use that money to clean up feed lots. Please stop messing with the food we eat. Industrial Agri-business is to blame for this. We need to get back to basics and promote the small, local farmer. We need to tear down the agri-business conglomerate and farm the way humans had been farming for generations. We need to stop tearing down the nutritious integrity of our food by genetic mutations and irradiation. We need to grow non-tampered with crops locally.
As well, I clicked on the Privacy and Use notice and see that neither of the links work. It would be far more helpful if they did! How is one supposed to determine what is appropriate regarding anonymous or sensitive submissions.
Sincerely, Jackie Smith
***Please spend the time and money on the problems inherent in a disease-ridden factory-farmed food system. Do not allow the irradiation of lettuce and spinach or any other food. Bombarding the food
with high levels of x-rays (ionizing radiation) in order to destroy disease causing pathogens causes the creation of toxic free radicals, vitamin and nutrient loss, and the formation of carcinogenic chemicals.
What are we doing to our children? Please stop this madness.
***This bill must be stopped. There needs to be more restrictions on the farming
control rather than just destroying the enzymes and living nutrients of the foods we need to live healthy. Irradiation is NOT the answer. I will be voting this year and I am watching what my representatives are doing and passing as legislation. We need food to have nutrients that are not destroyed or we will all become sicker and sicker. Rosie wells
***I run a Spa and teach nutrition classes as well. Why do you insist upon allowing dangerous processes such as GMOs and irradiation in our food? You have no idea what the long-term consequences of these acts are and you are jeopardizing the planet and the future of our children and grandchildren by allowing this. There are other safer ways to accomplish the same purpose without opening up a Pandora's Box with these untested and unsafe methods. We may need global
depopulation but this is not the way to do it! Please reconsider your stance and give us safe food to eat. Thank you.
***FDA OKs Irradiated Lettuce and Spinach 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.
While irradiated lettuce and spinach must be labeled in supermarkets, there are
currently no labeling requirements whatsoever for restaurants, schools, hospitals, or nursing homes serving irradiated produce or other nuked foods such as beef.
Over the past decade, OCA and our allies in the organic community have
prevented corporate agribusiness and the nuclear industry from contaminating
organic standards. Food irradiation is prohibited on any product labeled
as "organic." There is currently a 30 day comment period for the FDA's new rule.
***STOP THE USE OF IONIZING RADIATION FOR FOOD!!!!
-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.
***If the growers, packagers, and shippers of lettuces and spinach cannot clean up
their activities enough to prevent pathogenic microbes from infesting their
products - how on earth can we anticipate that they will consistently and
competently manage the irradiation process? Or that they will properly protect
the employees or consumers from potentially harmful, accidental exposures? Or
that they will not inadvertently contaminate their facilities, cause accidental
releases of unacceptable radiation, properly maintain and calibrate the irradiation equipment? What about proper handling and disposal of the materials used in the irradiation process - bags, gloves, equipment, radiation sources? Since our country is awash in low level radioactive wastes which are being stockpiled with no new permitted disposal facilities coming online in the foreseeable future, will this not simply create yet another major waste stream with no place to go? At what level of over-irradiation will cause FDA or USDA initiate a recall, and what kind of media crisis and public panic will ensue when folks discover their children ate "hot" lettuce? Sounds like a PR nightmare of momentous proportions. How many inspectors will it take to make sure these producers with their often seasonal, itinerant, and minimum wage employees will do any better at irradiating food than they do at simply growing, washing, and storing it? Irradiating food isn't a panacea to poor process and quality control, it's just something else to be badly done - with potential irreversible long term health and environmental consequences. Recalling jalepeno's with salmonella can stop the exposure, and
can be traced back to a producer typically, how will you reverse the radiation
exposure to thousands of agri-workers, food service employees, grocery store
employees, truckers, packagers, and consumers, who won't even have to ingest
the food to potentially experience an incidental exposure? How will you
decontaminate everything that piece of lettuce ever came near? How will you
trace it back to a source of malfunctioning or improperly maintained or
calibrated or ineptly run irradiating equipment? How will you prevent a disgruntled employee or nut case from purposely sabotaging the system or using it to exact "revenge" on an unsuspecting public? How much accumulative exposure
from handling the food, or years of ingesting it, and at what individual sensitivity level will be sufficient to warrant warning labels? What 8 hour, 40 hour, lifetime studies has OSHA performed to establish safe TLVs (exposure levels?
What risk assessments has EPA conducted for exposure to sensitive
populations - say lettuce packers in a packing plant, or produce workers at the
local grocery - or babies ingesting irradiated creamed spinach from baby food?
The pathogens are there for a reason - because the produce was poorly grown,
badly handled, or improperly processed and/or shipped. Why would you want to
eat food from a source that contaminates it's own product? Perhaps those
producers shouldn't be in the food business if they can't figure out how to make it and keep it ingestible and safe for humans!
*** We are continuing to cut things out of diet that are being bombarded with pesticides, growth hormones, antibiotics and now the latest irradiated foods. We need someone to look out for the American people and their health instead of the
pharmaceutics' bottomless pockets. Irradiated food is not the answer!!! These
feed lots need to be cleaned up and monitored along with the run off of pesticides and farm manure into our farm fields and streams. Our voice will be heard and there is a growing movement to stop these practices. Please make changes for our health and the future of our children and nation!
***Rather than irradiating food, why not develop stronger regulations to keep our food clean? Farm workers defecate in the field; slaughter houses bring animals encrusted with feces onto the kill floor. I think more attention needs to be addressed to the root cause of the problem. Irradiating food just kills the pathogens on dirty food.
***The FDA needs to attack the problem of contaminated produce from where it stems-our factory farming and industrialized system for growing and creating the cheapest food. Rather than allow these industries to wreak havoc on the American people and the environment and the treat the results (contaminated food), why not go to the SOURCE and try to get industry to produce healthy, fresh, and pathogen-free food?!
*** Dear Sir/Madam, If it was true and you people were the guardians of our Nations health, why do you choose to become 'prostitutes' to our lands, oceans and air by allowing X-ray (ionizing radiation) in order to destroy disease causing pathogens. You already know that in this process of irradiation other hazards arise, like the creation of toxic free radicals, vitamin and nutrient loss, and the formation of carcinogenic chemicals.
You have become the biggest known killer and parasite organization on this planet.
Is anyone in your organization able to take ownership and responsibility to how
our foods have been produced for millions of years? What's changed? Once you
denature a food you remove its life force, it's essential MICRONUTRIENTS (aka
vitamins, mineral, bacteria, enzymes, etc). If according to a recent report broccoli comes out 4% alive after undergoing a one minute heating process in a
microwave, what do you think is going to happen to the foods (Lettuce and
spinach) when you do the same?
Think about it people, wake up and start focusing on life and using the methods of farming we've been practicing for years. The FDA takes far more than it provides to the public, including lives.
We all know this and I've said before you people just keep adding more nails in
your coffin. You'll be removed from power and responsibility by 2010. That is an exciting time for all us American’s and Canadian's
Trust me I know Sending you all love M. A. L. Mulliner
***Irradiation will only create new pathogens and infectious protozoa etc .......... There are many other ways to prevent the above without creating a new industry to interfere with the health content of the food we consume. Stop letting corporations dictate protocol and put the consumer first. The purpose of eating is to NOURISH the body.........if you kill the nutrition WHY eat ............????
***This bill must be stopped. There needs to be more restrictions on the farming control rather than just destroying the enzymes and living nutrients of the foods we need to live healthy. Irradiation is NOT the answer. I will be voting this year and I am watching what my representatives are doing and passing as legislation. We need food to have nutrients that are not destroyed or we will all become sicker and sicker. Rosie wells
*** Irradiation is not needed in the production, processing, and handling of food,
particularly lettuce and spinach. The health benefits (if at all, beyond simple
washing of hands and produce) do not outweigh the long-term risks. This
legislation provides no protection to the consumer eating in restaurants,
institutions, and nursing/extended care facilities as those consumers have
little or no way of knowing if the food they are eating has been irradiated.
Do not pass this regulation. The needed focus is on cleanliness in factory farms and more thorough washing of produce and hands of workers.
*** I strongly disagree with the irradiation of lettuce and spinach for nutritional
reasons. I support the organic food growing industry and local farming with clean growing practices. I think it is important to clean up corporate agriculture growing practices.
*** Please take caution when messing with our food supply. Take the high road and the tough, right route for the best results. Thank you, Kristina R.
treat the cause not the symptoms-- isn't that obvious? factory farming is the cause. irradiating food doesn't address this, and creates a host of new problems.
***Irradiating foods rather than fixing the problems with growing and production is a ridiculous waste of money and regulations. I'm sure the strong interest in irradiation has some roots in a government contractor that would really love to "do this" for the government.
***Consumer Comments on Food Irradiation
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