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From: eugenez@azure.UUCP (Eugene Zinter)
Newsgroups: net.med,net.veg
Subject: IRRADIATED FOOD
Message-ID: <2578@azure.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 27-Feb-84 22:23:10 EST
Article-I.D.: azure.2578
Posted: Mon Feb 27 22:23:10 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 29-Feb-84 07:49:43 EST
Organization: Tektronix, Beaverton OR
Lines: 114


		***********************
                *                     *
		*  IRRADIATED FOOD    *
                *                     *
		***********************

I think that most people would agree that the problem with
Irradiated food is not that is becomes RADIOACTIVE.

Rather, the  problem  is:  What  happens  to  the  food  when it
is  bombarded  with  Gamma  Rays from  Cobalt-60?  What  changes
occur in the  vitamins,  enzymes,  minerals,  amino  acids, etc?
After  all,  why  did  the  organisms   within  the   food  die?
Some  changes had to occur---why  can't  the  same thing  happen
to the very  food we are  talking  about?  And we  haven't  even
discussed the  radiolytic  by-products.   These  are  things few
people  (myself included) know  specifically  about.   I do know
that the  main  problem  with radiation exposure in human beings
is that  large  amounts of  Singlet  Oxygen are  produced in the
body.  This is a powerful  free radical and apparently  does the
major damage.  According to theory, if you could produce enough,
say  Super-Oxide   Dismutase   (SOD,  a   powerful  free-radical
deactivator) within your body, you could withstand large amounts
of radioactive exposure.  That is also why some  people ingest a
lot of carrots (or a Beta-Carotene Supplement)  daily for a  few
weeks before summer and continuing it throughout summer weather.
The idea is to  build up  enough  beta-Carotene in your  skin so
when  you sun,  you won't age  your skin from the Singlet Oxygen
produced  from  long  exposure to the sun.   Beta-Carotene  is a
free-radical scavenger and so deactivates  Singlet Oxygen.  As a
result, it's supposed to cut down sunburn problems.

**********************************************************************
**********************************************************************

There is a statement I do NOT agree with:  

	[pick your favorite subject] has/have  been in use for over 20 years
	 and therefore this proves that it/they  is/are perfectly safe.

Let's apply this to the  newly discovered  aluminum problem.  After
all, wide use of aluminum in our food has been around for 50 years,
OR MORE.  

Here's the sentence:

	[Aluminum-based food additives] have been in use for over 20 years
	 and therefore this proves that they are perfectly safe.


Notice how easy it is to fill in some subject, and to even choose
some proper grammar.  Most convenient.

That  should  prove  beyond  ANY  DOUBT that  aluminum is  PERFECTLY 
safe to  ingest.   Awwwww.   Too bad  someone  playing with dialysis
units and dialysis  patients dying  mysteriously  stumbled upon some 
problems with aluminum within the last year or so.  I mean, everyone
knew  that  the body  eliminates  all  aluminum  safely---oops,  how
embarrassing---it's just  been  !recently!  discovered that the body
may  retain  around  20% of it,  storing a  lot of it in the  brain.
Could the  experts be  wrong after all  these  years?  I  mean, they
are much smarter than "common" me.  I mean, what do I  know---I just
go by  common  sense.   What's all the  excitement about Alzheimer's
disease?   Gee, another "safe"  substance blown to  hell.  Of course
this  is  all  conjecture  until  it  is  thoroughly   proven  (like
Cigarette Smoking causing lung cancer).

You can have a lot of fun modifying the sentence:

	[         X-Rays           ]     have  been in use for over 20 years
	 and therefore this proves that    they     are perfectly safe.

	[     Automobiles          ]     have  been in use for over 20 years
	 and therefore this proves that    they     are perfectly safe.

	[ Coal Tar Derivatives     ]     have  been in use for over 20 years
	 and therefore this proves that    they     are perfectly safe.

**********************************************************************
**********************************************************************

I realize this is being a bit facetious.  And Irradiated  food may
have  some very useful  applications.  But  for  such an  advanced
civilization, it shouldn't be that terrible of a problem to figure
out how to deliver  fresh foods.   Or is it of the same difficulty
as "curing" the common cold?  Hmmmmmm.

And it may indeed, be safer to ingest irradiated  food, rather than
barbecued/smoked meat (up to  600  cigarettes worth of  Benzopyrine
per  large  barbecued  steak!) or safer than excessive use of salt,
spices, etc.   But I don't eat such things  anyway, so the argument
basically doesn't apply to me.


I say, "Let those who want to ingest Irradiated food to do so."

And let those of us who DON'T want to use it to have such FREEDOM.


However, those of us who  care  will watch what happens, whether any
bad  results  come from new research or  observation of  populations
who eat  Irradiated  food and we will  give  warnings  where needed.
Maybe we'll be lucky this time and nothing bad will come of it.

Personally, I choose NOT to be a guinea pig anymore.  I have no
real  reason to eat Irradiated foods when I can find them fresh
and/or grow them myself.  

I would be interested in knowing more about radiolytic by-products
due to Irradiation of food by Cobalt-60 or whatever.  Does anyone
have any information on this?

						ECZ