FDA Plots To Disolve Labelling Requirement For Irradiated Foods

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has decided to relax its stance on food labeling to allow some foods which have been irradiated to be labeled as "pasteurized" instead.

The proposed rule changes would allow companies to label food as pasteurized when the treatment of irradiation doesn't cause any material change in the product or any material change in the consequences that may arise from ingesting the product. This could include changes to the texture, smell, taste, and shelf life; as well as the nutritional, organic or functional properties of food.

"This move by the FDA would deny consumers clear information about whether they are buying food that has been exposed to high doses of ionizing radiation. . . an industry attempt to make consumers buy products that they otherwise might avoid," said Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food & Water Watch, a national consumer advocacy group that "challenges the corporate control and abuse of our food and water resources."

Companies looking to take advantage of the new labeling allowances simply will need to prove to the FDA that irradiating food kills microorganisms as effectively as pasteurization. This proposal also allows companies to use alternate terms to describe "irradiated" foods other than the word "pasteurized."

Pasteurization is the process of destroying viruses and harmful organisms like mold, yeast, protozoa and bacteria by bringing liquids to a high temperature. Irradiation, on the other hand, is a process of exposing an item to radiation - whether intentional or accidental. The only similarity between the two methods seems to be that both effectively kill germs. But the two terms are hardly synonymous.

"Louis Pasteur would be rolling in his grave if he knew that the FDA was about to attach his name to a process of irradiating foods," said Mike Adams, executive director of the non-profit Consumer Wellness Center (www.ConsumerWellness.org). "This attempt by the FDA to blatantly mislead consumers by falsely labeling irradiated foods as pasteurized is just the latest example of this agency's total abandonment of its mission to protect and inform consumers about what's in their food."

Irradiation is a way to control potential microbiological hazards in food and extend the shelf life of processed foods, but it can also be a dangerous practice. Food companies claim that through this radiation technique, bacteria is eliminated without making the food radioactive, but there is a substantial body of evidence they seem to be ignoring.

Read the full article at Newstarget