Some of the foods people consume may very well have undertaken “food irradiation”. Wait. What? Don’t worry; foods exposed to irradiation don’t become radioactive. But in some cases subtle chemical changes may occur. The levels used start at 1 KiloGray which is equivalent to over 16 million chest x-rays; one may start to question its safety. Exposing food to radiation is used primarily to eliminate microorganisms, viruses, bacteria, and insects that might be present in the food. But obviously there are safer alternatives to do this than blasting it with irradiation. The United States has some of the more lenient regulations on irradiation compared to other countries. U.S. supermarkets may contain irradiated foods like fresh meat and poultry, many spices, fresh produce, wheat and wheat powder, and white potatoes. There is a sign that irradiated foods are required to show on packaging and that is the picture on this blog. It is called the ‘radura’ symbol. Doesn’t look too scary does it? It’s important to note that processed foods and restaurants are not required to disclose the use of irradiated food, so when eating out or eating processed junk, be aware that to know if the food has been irradiated. Currently the FDA supports the use of cobalt-60 culled from nuclear reactors on all domestically produced conventional food and has done since 1963. They say it is an important food safety tool in fighting foodborne illness and that the levels they are exposed to isn’t enough to make food radioactive. But the research is showing food irradiation is definitely not as safe as the FDA makes it out to be. And it seems the FDA has turned a blind eye to decades worth of alarming research on the topic. 2-ACB’s are radiolytic derivatives of triglycerides found exclusively in irradiated food and they are produced in correlation with the fat content of the food and its dose of absorbed radiation. This compound has shown in animals to promote tumor growth and colon cancer. They also found this compound is capable of crossing the intestinal barrier which then entered the bloodstream and was stored in the fat tissue of the animal. This is an important reason to detox. Another study found that cats fed with a diet of irradiated foods developed severe neurological dysfunction, including movement disorders, vision loss, and paralysis. In 2000, a study in Food Irradiation concluded “an increase in concentration of a mutagen in food by irradiation will increase the incidence of cancer. It will take four to six decades to demonstrate a statistically significant increase in cancer due to mutagens introduced into food by irradiation. When food irradiation is finally prohibited, several decades worth of people with increased cancer incidence will be in the pipeline.” So what can we do to avoid these foods? Look for the Radura symbol, or foods labeled with “treated with radiation” or “treated by irradiation”. Locally grown and organic foods are also unlikely to have been treated as such. Our Metabolic Rejuvenation Kit is one of the most comprehensive detox programs available and can help cleanse the body of stored toxins.
