As the entire world is preoccupied with the H1N1 “pandemic” and all of its unstated and unmediated divergent opinions, I thought I would bring to the table the issue of ionizing radiation.
The Food and Drug Administration, U.S.A. stated that ”The Agency agrees with the conclusions of the Committee of Indian Scientists that the studies with irradiated food do not demonstrate that adverse effects would be caused by ingestion of irradiated foods.” (Federal Register 51, April 18, 1986, p 13 385)
The Committee of Indian Scientists referred to here, is a two-man committee which consisted of Dr. P.C. Kesavan and Dr. P.V. Sukhatme, whose report, according to the federal register’s citation, was submitted to the Joint FA0/WHO/IAEA Expert Committee on the Wholesomeness of Irradiated Food, held at Geneva in 1976.
The scientific community however, seems to paint a different picture of the phenomena. The National Institute of Nutrition, India, performed several studies on mice, rats and monkeys and published the following conclusions.
The Institute’s Findings – You are what you eat
- Rats and mice fed diets containing freshly irradiated wheat showed increased levels of polyploid cells [ cells with chromosome abnormalities ] in their bone marrow. This was repeatedly observed in several separate experiments.
- Normal monkeys and undernourished children fed diets containing freshly irradiated wheat showed elevated levels of polyploid [ abnormal ] cells in circulating lymphocytes [white blood cells] . Several months after the irradiated wheat was withdrawn, levels of polyploidy returned to normal.
- Mice fed freshly irradiated wheat-based diets showed evidence of dominant lethal mutation as indicated by increased numbers of intrauterine [ prenatal ] deaths.
- When wheat was stored for twelve weeks after irradiation, and then included in the diet, there was neither an increase in the number of polyploid cells nor was there evidence of dominant lethal mutation.
Facing such discrepancies in opinion regarding our regular foods, I decided to try to figure out how to differentiate between irradiated foods and not irradiated foods. After all, if legislators can at will decide to allow genetically denatured foods to be indiscriminately distributed, we should feel a strong incentive to figure out the proper way to choose foods.
Shedding light on produce sticker
Luckily, there is a sticker on almost every fruit and vegetable available out there. The average household can therefore easily decide which produce to bring home.
Here is what you need to know
The next time you buy produce, look carefully at the label to find out some valuable information. The bar code on that sticker is for price identification. The labels on fruits and vegetables will also have a 4 or 5 digit code.
- If your produce has 4 digits, it means that it was “conventionally grown, but not organic”.
- If the 4 digit code begins with the number 3, it means that the produce has been irradiated.
- If it has 5 digits, and begins with a 9, it means that the produce was organically grown.
- A 5 digit code that begins with an 8 indicates that the produce was genetically modified.
It is surprisingly difficult to choose foods that have not been irradiated or genetically modified. Finding the right food to put on your table requires much more effort then you would think.
