Irradiated Burgers
I just read a disturbing article in the Orlando Sentinel about how Omaha Steak Company ground beef along with about 2 percent of the nation's food supply is irradiated. What we're talking about here, people, is zapping burgers with cobalt-60, a radioactive material that kills bacteria, parasites and mold.
Irradiation provides an excuse not to improve the practices responsible for the contamination of beef . . . mainly the filth in the confined environment of the CAFO and the fecal contamination that occurs in high-speed slaughter (400-cows-per-hour-by-unskilled-labor kind of high speed) facilities. Similar to pasteurization for the dairy industry, irradiation provides a way for these corporations to reduce their legal risks, increase output, increase shelf life, increase shipping distances and mask product deterioration. Corporate profits are held above human health and well-being.
According to Dr. Samuel S. Epstein, Professor Emeritus of Environmental Medicine, University of Illinois School of Public Health, Chicago: "The government's assertion that irradiated food is safe for human consumption does not even pass the laugh test. Irradiated
meat is a very different product than natural meat. This is hardly surprising as the Food and Drug Administration's approved dosage of 450,000 rads is approximately 150 million times greater than that of a
chest x-ray. Apart from high levels of benzene, new chemicals known as 'unique radiolytic products' were identified in irradiated meat in US Army tests in 1977, and recognized as carcinogenic. Later tests identified other chemicals shown to induce genetic toxicity."
In addition, studies show that irradiation damages food by breaking up molecules and creating free radicals, causes a loss of 5-80% of many vitamins, and damages the natural digestive enzymes found in raw foods.
When you visit your butcher, ask if the ground beef is irradiated. If it is, express your displeasure and concern. I encourage all of us in the Local Forage community to be fiercely vocal and, if at all economonically possible, let's vote with our pocketbooks.
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