Is food treated with radiation safe?

Answer 1

So they have a choice of whether to eat it. Although the evidence points to this food being safe to eat (see related questions) in a Democracy it is important that individuals have personal choice. By labelling iradiated food this choice is maintained. The same principal is generally applied to genetically modified food in the EEC but my understanding is that this is not the case in the USA.

Answer 2

I assume by your question you mean "Iradiated food" rather than "Food grown next door to Chernobyl in the summer of 1986" (For younger readers just read as next door to a very nasty nuclear power station accident.) This may seem pedantic but it is important. Food contaminated with a radioactive isotope at a signicicant level is definitely not safe to eat. In fact if the level is sufficiently high it isn't a good idea to stand next to it for too long! Food is iradiated using gama radiation. This is actually very high energy electromagnetic radiation. Electromagnetic radiation starts at the low energy end with radio waves, moves through visible light, x-rays and right at the high energy end is gama rays. Although it's a form of "light" it is potentially very harmful as the "gama light" has so much energy that it can: a/ Break the bonds between atoms which can break up DNA. b/ Disrupt the nuclei of atoms causing them to break down into smaller lighter molecules. These can be radiactive in their own right. These 2 facors are the good and bad about iradiating food. Although breaking up DNA might sound like a bad thing remember you are not being exposed to the Gama rays, it is the food that is exposed. The idea is to break up the DNA (RNA) of bacteria and viruses that may be on or in the food. If done correctly most of them die and can't do you any harm. The bad factor b/ is the potential to change some of the atoms in the food into different isotopes as some of these will be radioactive isotopes. These can break down whilst the food is inside you and release alpha/beta/gamma radiation inside you which definitely isn't good for you. Eating something that is even slightly radioactive increases your risk of cancer but if the level is very low so is the risk. Both the wavelength of the gamma rays (think colour if you like) and dose is chosen to maximise the desirable effect a/ whilst minimising the undisirable effect b/. It is also a fact that all food (along with everything else on our planet) has a level of natural radioactivity. As a species we have evolved on a planet where all of us and our ancestors have always eaten food that is to some extent radioactive. The increase in radioactity brought about by a properly controlled (as it is by Government regulation in the developed world where it is generally used) irradiation process is so small that I believe it can be considered totaly negligable. The risk from the bacteria and viruses is in my opinion much greater than the risk from the radiation. I am quite happy to eat iradiated food. I believe the benefits significantly outway the risks but this is my opinion, Google the issue and you will find many others, some better informed, some worse. Inevitabely this is a contentious issue and not everyone will agree with my point of view but I would ask that you add your point of view rather than changing mine (unless I am wrong in points of fact.) Better to let both sides of the argument stand together than keep changing the answer backwards and fowards. This is not a Yes/No question........