Scientists Speak Out on Nuked Food

Food irradiation is currently one of the hottest issues in food safety. Food products are exposed to ionizing radiation to extend shelf-life and kill insects, fungi and bacteria. Since alive published several articles questioning whether Health Canada should allow more irradiated products in Canada, we've certainly felt the blast! But we're not the only ones speaking out"

"I am opposed to food irradiation because it is clear this process increases the levels of mutagens and carcinogens [agents] in food. The inevitable consequence of this is that in two to five decades, the incidence of cancer will increase from what we see now, in direct proportion to the amounts of irradiated food consumed." -George L. Tritsche, PhD, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY

"The large scale irradiation of food, as proposed by industry and administration, represents the largest prospective toxicological experiment in human populations in the history of public health." -Samuel S. Epstein, MD, Professor of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago

"There are potentially serious concerns about issues of waste disposal, engineering safety, transport of radioactive material, production of new isotopes, handling by poorly trained personnel, and others we haven't even thought of yet." -Sheldon Margen, MD, Professor Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley

Web sites to check out: citizen.org, cnp.ca, hans.org, sierraclub.ca. Then drop Health Canada an e-mail at irradiation@hc-sc.gc.ca voicing your opinion.