Date: Sat, 27 Aug 1994 10:24:33 -0700 (PDT) From: Alexander Volokh Subject: CEI LIST - TO SAVE LIVES WITH SAFER FOOD To: Recipients of the CEI List TO SAVE LIVES WITH SAFER FOOD by Michael Fumento, CEI's Warren Brookes Fellow in Environmental Journalism appeared in *The Washington Times*, 8/16/94. Excerpted from an article in *Priorities*, the quarterly publication of the American Council on Science and Health. The American food supply, including beef, is as safe as any in the world. Yet, as the poisoning of hundreds of people and deaths of three children in the Pacific Northwest showed last year, it can be made safer. That's why Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy has asked the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to approve the use of irradiation on beef. But it won't happen if activists get their way. Irradiation uses gamma rays to kill bacteria and other organisms. Irradiated food is no more radioactive than your luggage is after it goes through the airport X-ray machine. The FDA has already approved irradiation on pork, chicken, herbs and spices, fresh fruits, vegetables and grains. Activists fought those uses and have succeeded -- through public agitation -- in virtually denying consumers access to all irradiated food except spices. Instead of using irradiation to enhance food safety, opponents say the answer is increased government regulation, especially increasing the size of the government's meat inspection force. It is understandable that this would be their solution, since they have inherent faith in the ability of government to correct all problems. This faith, however, keeps them from realizing that government inspection has had little to do with making the meat supply as safe as it is and can do little to make it safer. The government employs only about 8,000 inspectors, including supervisors, for about 32 million head of slaughtered cattle annually. Furthermore, inspectors cannot see bacteria and other spoilage organisms and no microbiological tests currently exist that would make it practical to perform routine laboratory analysis on raw meat. What makes food safe is a market system in which making one's customers ill guarantees lost profits and perhaps bankruptcy. Foodmaker Corp., whose Jack-in-the-Box restaurants sold most of the tainted meat during last year's poisoning outbreak, reported a $44 million loss as a result, along with millions of dollars in lawsuits against its insurance carrier. To avoid such disasters, meat-packers and vendors will use anything of reasonable cost. In the past, this has involved the development of and adherence to proper handling and preparation guidelines. In the case of Jack-in-the-Box, cooking meat to an internal temperature of 155 degrees Fahrenheit would have killed the harmful bacteria. Irradiation will give food producers another line of defense in preventing food-borne illness, and to prevent its use is to deny them a valuable tool in protecting public health. Thirty-seven countries worldwide have approved food irradiation. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations' Food and Agricultural Organization both gave their approval long ago for irradiating food. A 1981 WHO document states: "All the toxicological studies carried out on a large number of irradiated foods, from almost every type of food commodity, have produced no evidence of adverse effects as a result of irradiation." Yet because of much negative publicity, consumers remain skeptical. What's eating the anti-irradiation activists? It's essentially the same technophobia that leads them to question the pesticides, the power lines and the electronic equipment that have made life so much easier and safer in the postwar period. Old real risks such as stomach cancer from salting and curing meats, or botulism from botched canning, are acceptable, but anything smacking of new technology is to be feared, loathed and fought -- often with great success. So far, despite the approval of irradiation for numerous foods and despite thousands of food poisoning deaths from various types of meat each year in this country, irradiated foods are almost completely unavailable in the United States. Speaking more than a decade ago, Douglas L. Archer, then director of the Division of Microbiology at the FDA, said, "If it's instituted correctly, and if the public accepts it, food irradiation could obviously have a dramatic impact" on food-borne disease. Thus far, however, the activists' campaign of misinformation against the public and threats and intimidation against stores and restaurants have ensured that it's had virtually no effect. It's enough to make you sick. _______ __________ ___________ / | / | | | |__________ | | | | \ | | \ _______ |__________ ___________ COMPETITIVE ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE 1001 Connecticut Ave. NW #1250 Washington, DC 20036 202-331-1010, fax 202-331-0640 cei@digex.com Permission to copy granted as long as these lines are left intact. To subscribe to the cei list, send a message to volokh@netcom.com. "The Virtual Hand: CEI's free-market guide to the information superhighway" is available for $5. CEI's monthly newsletter, "CEI UpDate," is free to contributors of $25.