Irradiated food may be deadly

I remember when there was a big push for irradiated meat to be sold in the supermarket - but no one bought it because it had a funny color and it was substantially more expensive. To protect their interests, companies that irradiated food tried to make it a law that you couldn't say food was NOT irradiated - and that irradiated food would not be marked as irradiated. They wanted the public to believe that irradiation wasn't any different than pasteurization. It's NOT the same.

The Chinese lead the world in irradiated foods AND liver cancer!
When the Chinese Institute of Food Safety Control and Inspection, which is under the direction of the Ministry of Public Health in Beijing, wanted to prove that irradiated food was safe, they set up eight clinical trials to prove their point.

They fed 439 human volunteers irradiated rice, potatoes, mushrooms, peanuts and Chinese sausages. Their diet was between 60 percent and 66 percent irradiated food. After two to three months, they found "no adverse effects on body weight, blood pressure, ECG, hematology, blood enzyme activities, serum lipids or blood or urine...and no chromosomal aberration of peripheral blood lymphocytes." On the basis of this short-term test, they started wholesale irradiation of the Chinese food supply.

Two to three months is too short to test the effects of irradiation. Genetic mutations take longer. Within 10 years, China became the world leader in liver cancer deaths. About 10 percent of their population dies of liver cancer - compared to 0.05 percent in the U.S. The difference between these two statistics is magnified even more when you consider that the Asian diet is supposed to be extremely healthy! According to the Asian Liver Center at Stanford University, "China alone accounts for 54% of the liver cancer deaths worldwide".

Why irradiation may contribute to liver cancer
The purpose of irradiation is to extend the shelf life of food. If you kill all the microbes that could deteriorate food, then food will last longer. Irradiation kills harmful microbes as well as beneficial ones. Beneficial bacteria help limit the growth of harmful microbes such as aflatoxin, which is known to cause liver cancer. Could the increased presence of aflatoxin in China's food supplies be the cause behind China's liver cancer epidemic?

Irradiation might kill harmful bacteria, but you're still eating fecal matter and urine
A major selling point of irradiation supporters is that it'll make the meat supply safer. Food that is contaminated with vermin carcasses, fecal matter and urine won't endanger anyone's health because the dangerous toxins inherent in these non-food items will have been cooked out of the food. You can eat rat feces, but it won't make you sick!

If you want more reasons why irradiated food is bad for you, visit Dr. Joe Mercola's site.

You can avoid irradiated food by reading labels
I don't buy irradiated food. Spices, produce, eggs, meat, tea, juice, nuts and seeds must carry the international radiation symbol indicating that it's been treated. Irradiated food served in restaurants do not have to be labeled. You may be eating it without knowing it.

Additional source:
Biomed Environ Sci. 1989 Mar;2(1):1

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