Take Action: FDA considering Irradiation of some sea food.

[JPace]

Click on this link or the one below to Public
Citizen, fill out your name and address and
a pre written letter will be sent in your name.
http://www.citizen.org/fax/background.cfm?ID=371&source=12
(Irradiation is very bad for your health)
---------------------------------------------------------------

WESTON A. PRICE FOUNDATION
ACTION ALERT
December 14, 2004

Take Action - Tell the FDA Not to Approve Irradiation
for Seafood!

An industry trade association, National Fisheries Institute
(NFI), petitioned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) and the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and
Forestry to allow for the irradiation of mollusks in 1999.
In 2001, NFI filed another petition with the FDA to allow
for the irradiation of crustaceans, including shrimp. FDA is
currently evaluating those petitions, while the industry is
pressuring the agency to move forward and approve the
petitions.

Irradiation is the process by which food is exposed to high
doses of radiation-the equivalent of up to 1 billion chest
x-rays. Irradiation kills bacteria and extends the shelf life
of food, but destroys vitamins and creates new chemical
compounds. Problems include, but are not limited to,
premature death, fatal internal bleeding, prenatal death,
suppressed immune systems, tumors, stunted growth and
nutritional deficiencies.

Irradiation addresses less than seven percent of contamination
found in seafood. In fact, if consumers believe their food to
be safe, they are less likely to follow strict handling and
cooking precautions and are more likely to get sick as a result.
If the seafood industry truly wants to protect consumers, it
should educate them about the real sources of poisonings,
instead of offering them a deceptive security blanket.

Send this letter (free) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration by
clicking on the following link:

http://www.citizen.org/fax/background.cfm?ID=371&source=12

Lauren Tarantino, Director
Office of Food Additive Safety (HFS-200)
Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition
Food and Drug Administration,
5100 Paint Branch Parkway
College Park, MD 20740-3835
fax: [phone]

Dear Ms. Tarantino:
Re: Docket No. 99F-4372 and Docket No. 01F-0047, amendment of Food
Additive regulations to allow for the irradiation of fresh
or frozen molluscan shellfish and crustaceans and processed
crustaceans.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my serious
concern over the petitions currently being considered by
the FDA regarding the irradiation of seafood. In 1999 and
2001, two petitions were submitted to the FDA Center for
Food Safety and Applied Nutrition by the National Fisheries
Institute to allow for the irradiation of seafood.Irradiation
is not an acceptable option for protecting consumers from
seafood poisoning. Instead, it may cause unnecessary health
concerns. I ask you to not approve this petition.

The level of irradiation necessary to kill naturally-occurring
bacteria in seafood will cause deterioration of texture and
juiciness, as shellfish are delicate foods. Low levels of
irradiation cannot kill all bacteria present in seafood. Irradiation
does not obliterate food-borne viruses that cause more than
9 million people to become sick annually. It also won't cleanse
seafood of methylmercury, which causes neurological birth
defects, or of the toxins that cause shellfish poisoning. More
importantly, irradiation will not protect consumers from the
top sources of seafood poisoning: unsafe holding temperature,
poor personal hygiene, inadequate cooking, and contaminated
equipment.

Irradiation not only offers consumers a false sense of security,
but also poses a host of health concerns to consumers. Recent
research has shown that one type of chemical created by
irradiation, alkylcyclobutanones, promotes cancer development
and genetic damage in rats and genetic damage in human cells.

As a concerned consumer, I am urging you not to allow the
irradiation of seafood. Thank you for considering my concerns.

Best Regards,
<your name>

[noamnety]

1. done

[DrWeird]

2. cyclobutanones? no, not the cyclobutanones.

Anything but the cyclobutanones.

[JPace]

3. kick

[megatherium]

4. Sorry, I can't help you.

The claims in this letter are over the top: "Problems include, but are not limited to, premature death, fatal internal bleeding, prenatal death, suppressed immune systems, tumors, stunted growth and nutritional deficiencies." The seafood will not be radioactive. Any chemical changes that would occur would be similar to and no greater than the witch's brew of chemical changes that ordinary cooking (with heat) causes.

There are already products on the shelf that everyone uses that have been irradiated. You ever wonder why those little bottles of dried spices keep so well? They're irradiated.

The danger to health of bacteria-contaminated products are real, and far greater than the alleged dangers due to irradiation. People die from contaminated food.

Having said that, I should also add that I support labeling of food irradiation (it isn't now). I also support any effort to reform the meat industry, with its unhealthy and inhumane treatment of animals. But I don't belong to the fear-nuclear religion that is so popular on the left.