The researchers are experimenting with x-ray technology to zap the dangerous bacteria that hide in foods you eat such as leafy greens, tomatoes, ground beef and, peanuts. The x-ray machine being tested at Michigan State University can reduce pathogens 99.999% food experts say. The technique, which uses a low-dose form of irradiation, destroys the bacteria on delicate foods without turning them to a mush.
Products like peanut contaminated with salmonella have sickened more than 650 people about 44 states and killed at least nine. And in 2006, spinach tainted with E. coli (a bacteria) from one field in California caused one of the worst nationwide food-poisoning outbreaks in recent years, killing three people and sickening at least 205. About 76 million Americans are stricken with food-borne illness each year.
The methods to improve some food safety irradiation is a necessary step that could prevent many illnesses and deaths. In August, the Food and Drug Administration approved irradiation for iceberg lettuce and spinach, which have been responsible for some of the worst outbreaks in recent years. That approval is expected to open doors to more irradiated foods.
Irradiation is something that kills harmful bacteria by briefly exposing food to ionizing radiation, or short energy wavelengths. Irradiation has already been approved for use on many foods, including spices, poultry, wheat flour and ground beef but there are also many barriers to irradiating foods on a larger scale, particularly fresh produce. Some experts say it’s not ready for mass production due to a lack of major facilities. Also, irradiation is not permitted on certified organic products. And much of the public is still uneasy about buying foods that carry an international symbol for irradiation.
http://www.sciam.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-08-10-08
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
That is pretty intersting, did you know that the machine puts out a higher dose than a normal x-ray machine but less than gamme rays which is the most common radiation that people use in terrorist threats. That poses a kind of scary thought though thinking that they could be harming your food if the wrong person gets there hand on this technology.
http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/x-raying-food
Its great that this will be able to kill most diseases such as Salmonella especially since there are somewhat 40,000 cases in the us alone each year!
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=salmonella-poisoning-peanut-butter
This is good for many people because the x-ray machine can decontaminate food. When decontaminating the food Cobalt-60 and Celsium-137. Also the electrons make a maximum of 10 million electron volts.
http://www-naweb.iaea.org/nafa/fep/public/x-ray.pdf
This seems like it could help a lot people seeing how so many people get sick from certain diseases every year. Nuts being a new item they test, tend to become rancid after irradiation. This is something scientists will have to fix.
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=x-ray-machines-food&page=2
To think that those 76 million Americans who were stricken with food-borne illness could be prevented in the future by this new technology is great. It would also save food companies money because they would not have to recall any bad food.
Here are some more facts about irradiated foods.
http://www.physics.isu.edu/radinf/food.htm
Very cool, Did you know that as many as 76 million Americans are stricken with food-borne illness each year. In the modern global food economy, a single head of contaminated lettuce can spread across state and county lines and contaminate many people.
Post a Comment