The Great Lakes Zephyr - Wind Energy & Hydrogen Journal

Don't let the FDA increase irradiation x-ray levels!

A few days before Christmas, the Food and Drug Administration quietly

announced that they were granting an industry petition to increase the

permitted energy level of X-rays used to irradiate food.  At this higher

energy level, it is possible for the components of the food to become

"activated" (become radioactive).  The industry claims that any

radioactivity will be short-lived.  But we think it is unacceptable that

consumers should be asked to accept any technology that creates

radioactivity, no matter what the level.  Additionally, the FDA has not

required adequate studies of the changes, chemical or otherwise, that

this increased dose could cause in food.



The higher doses will allow large portions of food to be irradiated in

one blast - such as shipping containers from overseas. This could

increase the already enormous amount of imported meat and produce that

floods U.S. markets, a growing trend that has forced tens of thousands

of American farmers and ranchers out of business.



The FDA has a long history of ignoring the well-documented health

problems associated with irradiated foods, which can be exposed to the

equivalent of up to 1 billion chest X-rays. Numerous health problems

have been observed in lab animals fed irradiated foods, including

premature death, stillbirths, mutations, tumors, organ damage and

stunted growth. And, chemicals formed in irradiated foods called 2-ACBs

have been linked to colon cancer promotion in rats and genetic damage in

human cells.



Send the FDA an email to object to their decision to increase the dose of

X-rays used to irradiate food! The email should be sent to

fdadockets@oc.fda.gov, and the subject line MUST be Docket No.

2003F-0088.



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Sample letter



Re:  Docket No. 2003F-0088 - "Irradiation in the Production,

Processing, and Handling of Food"

To Whom It May Concern:



I am writing to object to your decision to amend the food additive

regulations to establish a new maximum permitted energy level for x-rays

used to irradiate food.  Specifically, I urge the FDA to conduct the

necessary studies to determine what chemical, physical, and other

changes such a change in energy level will cause in food.



I also object to the agency's decision to allow this change knowing

that some amount of radioactivity could be created in food treated with

7.5 MeV.  It is unacceptable for consumers to be asked to tolerate any

amount of radioactivity caused by a food treatment such as irradiation.





A public hearing should be conducted on this matter, so that the public

can raise concerns about this change with the agency.



Sincerely,







***

Audrey Hill

Organizer

Public Citizen

215 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE

Washington, DC 20003

(202) 454-5185



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