Is food irradiation harmful to people?

Question

I'm doing a project in my AP Bio class on food irradiaiton. We have to do a power point and pick one side to argue - for food irradiation or against. We can't say it's both good and bad.

Initially I was going to argue that it's bad but I've found a lot more information to back up food irradiation being good.

Does anyone have info on how it's bad/good or info on effect food irradiation has had on people?

Thanks.

Answer 1

its bad--irradiated food, when consumed by people, makes a peron to have weak bones

Answer 2

The science supports the benefits of irradiation of certain foods to destroy bacteria (enteropathogenic E. coli, Salmonella, Campylobacter, etc.), parasites (trichinosis in pork), and insect contamination of fruits, vegetables and cereals.

Irradiated food does not become radioactive and the radiation energy used is insufficient to alter the nuclear components in the various food cells. It's not carcinogenic. Certain European countries have used irradiated foods for decades with no discernible adverse effects.

Argue on the benefit side of irradiated food. The science is with you.

Answer 3

Points against food irradiation which need no scientific proof are that the process

1)correctly assumes that the original food is not clean pure  and ill cooked/processed.

2)food is like steel or plastic  can be subjected to any process  and

3)we had insufficient time to come out with clear scientific truth about irradiation of food.

Answer 4

No, it's not harmful.

Answer 5

Gamma irradiation simply goes through the food without lingering or altering it. There's nothing at all harmful about the food. There are risks, of course, to the workers, but that's easily dealt with.