Just finished reading an article about how raw alfalfa sprouts easily spread e-coli, but the problem could be solved by irradiation. So why don’t we?

After all, the US is the land of GMO, pesticides, washed eggs, chlorinated chicken, and pasteurized dairy. How could irradiated produce be any worse?

  • MyTurtleSwimsUpsideDown@fedia.io
    0·
    6 days ago
    1. We do! Or, at least we are allowed to. I’m mostly aware of it being done with meats.

    2. The FDA requires that irradiated foods bear… the statement “Treated with radiation”…

    3. The word “radiation” is scary to the general public. It conjures thoughts of glowing rocks and nuclear fallout. It makes folk imagine that their food might be radioactive.
    • iarigby@lemmy.world
      1·
      6 days ago

      Wouldn’t irradiation also affect the good bacteria? Like would one still be able to ferment it?

        • MyTurtleSwimsUpsideDown@fedia.io
          1·
          5 days ago

          Yes, though it does not affect the nutritive content or prevent subsequent cultures from taking root, so you can still inoculate irradiated foodstuffs with live ginger bug, yeast, scoby, mother, etc. or open air ferment.