People are healthier and living longer than ever before. This is a direct result of
             ingenuitive thinking leading to advances in technology. Irradiation could be considered
             to be one of these technologies. It kills disease-causing germs without essentially
             changing the properties of the food. Nevertheless, irradiation is a potential scientific
             breakthrough that should be studied much further.
             Those who support instant use of irradiation will point to pasteurization of milk
             and pressure cooking canned foods. They point to all of the positives, which irradiation
             definitely has: many disease-causing germs are reduced or eliminated, the food does not
             become radioactive, dangerous substances rarely appear in foods, the nutritional value of
             the food is left largely unchanged in most cases. It kills some common bacteria such as
             Salmonella, Shigella, Campylobacter, Cyclospora and many other pathogens. Some of
             this may in fact be true, but more study should be made before
             irradiation is put into more common use.
             What you won't hear from these supporters is the negatives of irradiation. The
             process gives off a chemical waste which could cause potential environmental problems.
             If irradiation is found to be a safe process, then severe restrictions and guidelines would
             have to be put on plants and factories employing the process in order to prevent these
             problems. Handling radioactive materials is extremely hazardous and extremely
             dangerous for the workers running the machinery. Another potential problem is with the
             food itself. This use of radiation could possibly cause problems in consumers of these
             products over the long-term. Severe medical issues such as cancer have been associated
             with irradiation by many. The process just hasn't been in place long enough to know if
             The solution to this dilemma is simply as much tes
             ...