Food Irradiation

A brief introduction to irradiation:

Discussing about food irradiation was interesting because it was a topic that had an equal amount of pros and cons, so arguments were quite hard to find. It was cool to see the points that people had and the research they had gathered, and the arguments they presented. I was in a group with Emily, Jovana and Riena. Together Emily and I debated with Jovana and Riena, we were supporting food irradiation while Jovana and Riena were against it. After debating our conclusion was that food irradiation was something that should not be encouraged but it should not be banned either, it is simply a step to a bigger, better and more beneficial alternative.

So know if I was faced with the choice to either pick irradiated food or non-irradiated food, I would probably pick non-irradiated food that is organic. This would be my choice because I think anything that passes radiation through your food is not really good for you, but then again if farmers in chain food-industries don't use irradiation they probably use other things like pesticides. So I would rather buy non-irradiated food from a local farmer or grower. Yet what are some of the pro's and cons of irradiating food?

FOOD IRRADIATION PROS AND CONS

Pros

Cons

· Irradiation kills up to 90-99% of the dangerous bacteria in your food · Can kill pests and insects without leaving chemical residue · Can make food sterile allowing people such as AIDS patients to eat irradiated foods · Has been deemed safe by several government agencies · Can allow food to be stored longer · Longer shelf life · Claimed okay for the environment because radioactive materials are fully enclosed and returned to the creator or disposed of · Doesn’t kill more nutrients than a conventional oven does

· Might not kill all the bacteria and the bacteria that is not destroyed supposedly comes back stronger and even harder to kill · The levels that are allowed to be used do not kill viruses · Can only be used on a limited number of foods · Approve irradiation in food as flawed · Not enough known about the potential health effects · Accidents by people handling radioactive material is possible · If irradiation was to go mainstream more factories would have to be built and the risk of accidents would go up