Using Irradiation to Make Food Safer for Consumers
             In the world today, there is a limited access to fresh and uncontaminated food. Gunjan Sihna, of Popular Science, reports that "The U. S. Centers of Disease Control estimates 6.5 million confirmed cases and more than 25 million additional unreported incidents of food poisoning each year" (65). For example, with seventy-five percent of the chicken in Europe and sixty percent of the chicken in the United States infected, salmonella is a serious problem ("Food Irradiation"). The United States reports about two million cases of salmonella per year, costing an estimated 2.44 billion dollars. "All creatures carry thousands of different bacteria in their bodies, yet most of these microbes are harmless or even beneficial," says Sinha (65). Unfortunately, there are still many bacteria that cause problems for humans. For example, E. coli is usually found in the gut of cows. Although most people do not eat this part of the cow, the beef may sometimes be cross-contaminated if the intestines are accidentally split during slaughter. Steps are needed to minimize the risk of food contamination on the world's population. Irradiation should be used to kill pathogens and extend the shelf life of food.
             After decades of exhaustive studies, experts agree that irradiation is safe and effective against food-borne pathogens. When irradiation is mentioned, many people think of nuclear radiation and then of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, or of Three Mile Island. "Do you want your food nuked?" inquire the opponents of irradiation (Satin 1-2). "Irradiation can be portrayed by anti-nuclear (sic) fanatics as something only welcome if you like chickens that come with three drumsticks, or turkey tetrazzini that glows in the dark," says Stephen Chapman of the Chicago Tribune (3). The proponents of irradiation blame this fear on nothing more than the name, which has lead to the common misconception and a...