Pundit’s Mailbag — Arguing For Irradiation
Jim Prevor’s Perishable Pundit, January 11, 2007
In response to our piece Irradiation Will Prevent Future Outbreaks, we received a letter:
Mark’s letter is tapping into a growing sense in the industry that nothing that is done at the grower level will provide the level of certainty of safety that government and the public demand.
So the consensus among growers is forming that we need a kill step.
Some think it can be found in the processing plant as Karl Kolb Ph.D., President and CEO, The High Sierra Group and the American Food Safety Institute, International commented in our piece Pundit’s Mailbag — Farmers Are Not The Cause Of Food Safety Problems.
But many are saying that even the efforts of processors to wash and test product are not definitive enough.
The thought is that we need a guaranteed kill step. And the only one available is irradiation.
When you have people like Tom Russell, President of Dynasty Farms / Pacific International Marketing, a man who has an important organic business, saying that we need a “Right to Irradiate” law, you know the tides have turned. If you missed Tom’s letter, read it here.
Growers are increasingly feeling that they are being asked to do the impossible.