Food irradiation expanding

According to this story, we can expect to see irradiated spinach and lettuce soon, a reaction to E. coli outbreaks.

Since everything I've read seems to indicate that irradiation eliminates dangerous bacteria and extends shelf life with no serious ill effects, I'm inclined to be in favor. Many spices and dried herbs have been irradiated for years. I have eaten irradiated beef and could not distinguish any flavor changes. There's apparently some slight loss of some vitamins.

Most of the objections I've read don't seem to be rooted in science but in a philosophy that doing anything "unnatural" to food must be dangerous and wrong.

Will you buy irradiated foods?

LAZ wrote:Will you buy irradiated foods?

yes

I'm with you, LAZ - it really seems to be a variant of cooking, except with more thorough bacteria-killing properties. Yes, you apparently may lose some vitamins - but fewer than you'd lose in cooking something thoroughly enough to get the same effects, and you wind up with something that's culinarily speaking a fresh product. It's my understanding that, because they're sterile, irradiated foods keep longer as well.

Nobody's come out with any specific ill effects other than the vitamin loss mentioned above, although I wonder if the ability to irradiate foods will increase the sloppiness of the food chain that we've seen with the aforementioned spinach/tomatoes/jalapenos. Interesting that the FDA also says this, albeit at the very bottom of their article on irradiation.