Fear not: Recent salmonella outbreak shows benefits of irradiating many foods

The Food and Drug Administration offered welcome news the other day: It's safe to make salsa again.

An outbreak of salmonella, blamed first on tomatoes, then cilantro and finally chili peppers grown in Mexico and distributed through the Rio Grande Valley, had prompted FDA warnings against eating those popular food items for much of the summer. The agency finally announced a last week that the threat of infection from this threat of salmonella appears to be over. From April through last Thursday, more than 1,442 cases of the disease were found; at least 286 of the affected people were hospitalized and two died, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Such infestations, and the suffering (and death) that goes with it is increasingly preventable; the biggest obstacle being human perception.

Commodity distributors have had the ability to irradiate food for decades. Public fear, borne largely from misperceptions, has kept the practice from becoming more common. That simple fact has led to the loss of billions of dollars worth of food, leading to shorter supplies and higher prices.

The process is simple: food is hit with ionizing radiation that kills some or all bacteria, germs and even insects or larvae that might exist in the food and cause it to spoil. Reduced spoilage means less of the produce is ruined during processing and more of it makes it to market, and it lasts longer at home once it is purchased. That alone saves stores and consumers immeasurably through reduced waste and greater supplies that naturally lower prices. Even more money is saved because many of these products no longer need to be refrigerated. That eliminates a cost to the distributor that can be passed on to the consumer.

Imagine being able to buy a carton of milk that can be stored in a cupboard for up to a year, and doesn't need to be refrigerated until the carton is opened. It certainly would make it easier to stock up on supplies for a storm or even a weekend trip.

Irradiation is deemed safe, and is done to varying degrees in more than 40 countries, including the United States. On an international level, it greatly aids in getting food to areas where it is desperately needed, such as Darfur and other places plagued with famine, war and other conditions.

For this reason the World Health Organizations and International Atomic Energy Agency both endorse the procedure and vouch for its safety.

Many hospitals routinely serve irradiated food since it is safer for people with weakened immune systems.

In general use, it can make everyday eating much safer. The risk of contracting salmonella, trichinosis and other illnesses from undercooked food is greatly reduced with irradiation, although improperly packaged food can still become contaminated after irradiation.

Some consumer groups, however, resist the process because it causes chemical changes in the food, but those changes are minor and similar to those that already occur through pasteurization or even natural curing.

It's worth noting that those processes raised similar public fears, as did microwave cooking, until general use proved they are all safer and more convenient than holding on to the old ways of doing things.

Independent researchers in several countries already have concluded that there's nothing to fear from irradiation. Expanded use of the process in the United States would only make our food options greater, cheaper and safer.