Exam 13: Food Safety and the Global Food Supply

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A common concern about irradiation is that it might alter the nutritional value of a food. The World Health Organization, along with numerous other public health agencies, points out that nutrient losses, if any, are insignificant.
That's not to say, however, that irradiation poses no risks. One of the most troublesome is that the radioactive materials used in the irradiation process may put workers and communities at undue risk. However, as with any technology, the risk of irradiation must be weighed carefully against the benefits and risks of alternate technologies. Consider spices, which typically harbor high levels of pathogens. Often, manufacturers douse them with a toxic, explosive chemical called ethylene oxide to rid them of bacteria. Yet because of its toxic, explosive nature, ethylene oxide puts workers at risk, may pollute the air, and may leave residue on the spices. In fact, the gas, which was once used to sterilize medical supplies, has been deemed so dangerous that most manufacturers now use irradiation instead. (Cotton swabs, tampons, teething rings, and a number of other consumer goods are also sterilized via irradiation. Recently, USDA authorized irradiation of meat already inspected by the agency and approved as safe for consumption. As a result, food companies now have the option of using irradiation on raw meat and meat products (for example, ground beef, frozen hamburger patties, or frozen poultry.
The World Health Organization (WHO, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the Food and Drug Administration, and numerous other agencies encourage the use of irradiation in the fight against foodborne disease and food loss, and some 40 countries have approved it for use. According to WHO, each year spoilage, insect infestation, and the like lead to losses of as much as 50 percent of the world's food supply-losses that could be eliminated with irradiation. What's more, the process may help prevent deaths resulting from foodborne illness.

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For the first half of the 20th century, scientists evaluated the safety of food additives using a simple approach: an added substance was either "safe" and therefore permitted for use in foods or "poisonous and deleterious" and therefore banned. As the study of toxic agents advanced, scientists realized that eventually they would be able to show that virtually every substance poses a health hazard if the dose is large enough. Consequently, they recognized that simply classifying an additive as "safe" or "poisonous" was not an effective means of evaluation. To get around the problem, Congress proposed the bill that later became the Food Additives Amendment of 1958. As the members of Congress debated the bill, a question arose as to how to deal with the additives already in use. Congress decided that a "safe" substance in use before 1958 would be deemed a "Substance Generally Recognized as Safe" (a GRAS substance and be put on the GRAS list. Substances not in use before that time would be classified as food additives and subject to regulation under the Food Additives Amendment.
With the establishment of the amendment, the FDA put hundreds of substances on the GRAS list. Everything from vegetable oils, salt, pepper, sugar, caffeine, vinegar, and baking powder to meat, poultry, eggs, milk, seafood, cereals, vegetables, and fruit was-and still is-classified as GRAS substances.
Today, the more than 400 substances classified as GRAS are continually subject to reexamination as new facts and concerns arise.