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Portland Observer, May 29, 1906, Page 7
Healthwatch
As more bacteria and parasitic o r
ganisms become resistant to our pesti
cides, the efforts by producers and
shippers to utilize Gamma or Ionizing
radiation to sterilize food is increas
ing. The proponents o f irradiation,
like those o f the "peaceful a to m "
claim that no health dangers exist
through
irradiation.
Proponents
claim that irradiation: I) kills micro
organisms yet 2) pose " n o " negative
potential for the consumer. Oppon
ents to irradiation (including myself)
claim that many potential problems
exist with this new process (claims o f
safety in countries such as Japan are
exactly the type o f testing abhored by
the F.D .A . when it comes to accept
ing new drugs, but appears to be the
primary support for the claims o f
safety offered by the proponents).
When dealing with the effects o f radi
ation, history has shown that the
general population doesn't manifest
many o f the clinical conditions (such
as leukemia, birth defects and other
cancers) for 10 to 30 years; certainly
we would not expect significant ill-
effects o f the process this early in its
use.
There are three major concerns that
are shared by opponents o f irradia
tion. They are I) nutritional loss due
to destruction o f vitamins and trace
elements, 2) the creation o f "super
bacteria” similar to what has tran
spired in the pesticide and anti-biotic
practices, and 3) the creation o f can
cer causing substances by the conver
sion o f molecular chemistries through
irradiation.
N u tritio n : We live in a society that
is strongly attached to convenience.
The refinement o f flour, white sugar,
etc., has led to substantially reduced
levels o f certain nutrients in the pre
pared foods that many Americans
consume. Likewise it is doubtful to
me that the food industry w ill show
any reverence for replacement o f
nutrients that are destroyed by the
irradiation process. I have not seen
any studies on the integrity o f water-
soluble vitamins exposed to these
forms o f irradiation yet it seems rea
sonable to believe that these foods
that are so sensitive to heat and oxy
gen. would not be any more stable
against the radiation than are the
bacterium, etc., which show such a
high resistance to other forms o f
sterilization.
R esistance: Our use o f antibiotics
in feed for cattle has recently been
linked with the creation o f bacteria
that are resistant to the antibiotics
used in the feed. This in turn has led
to human deaths from these "super-
bacteria." On a similar vent, the use
o f penicillin to treat gonorrhea has
led to both penicillin destroying nis-
seria gonoccus (the bacteria that
causes gonorrhea) and n. gonoccus
that are completely resistant to peni
cillin. The potential o f certain bac
teria to develop resistance to irradi
ation is a very real possibility. The
life span o f bacterium is very short in
comparison to human life, therefore
allowing for hundreds o f generations
o f a given bacterium within a short
period o f time. The ability o f an o r
ganism to mutate into a resistant form
is directly related to the number o f
generations o f that particular organ
ism that are exposed to the particular
substance (irradiation
chemicals,
etc ). Whether 5 - 20 years o f irradia
tion will produce resistant forms o f
bacterium, similar to our experience
with D .D .T ., is an uncertainly, but
certainly worth our concern at the
present.
Cancer: The transformation ol
Black center
anniversary
The Black Educational Center will
celebrate 15 years o f cultural and edu
cational leadership in Portland at a
banquet and awards ceremony on
Saturday, June 15, 1985, from 7 - 1 0
p.m ., at PSU Smith Center B allrixim ,
located at 1825 S.W. Broadway.
Tickets are $15 for adults and $5 for
children under 12 and are tax deduct
ible.
The Black Educational Center,
founded in May o f 1970, is a non
profit organization whose primary
operation is a full-tim e school for
students in kindergarten through
fourth grade The school’ s curriculum
includes reading, mathematics, sci
ence, music, art, and Spanish. The
Center also operates the Talking
Drum Bookstore, which specializes
in Black literature.
SOUL FOOD
non-toxic (non-carcinogenic) chemi
cals into cancer-causing agents (car
cinogens) has been shown in a variety
o f instances through changes o f acid
ity, heat and other physical occur
rences. The dimerization o f human
cells from the excessive exposre to
ultra-violet light (sun-light) has long
been accepted as a cancer initialing
occurrance. Similar changes within
foods exposed to ionizing irradiation
is not at all far-fetched or unrealistic
o f a fear. Should be really expose our
children and ourselves to these risks,
without furthet research into the po
tential o f these carcinogenic changes?
W hile most foods are not currently
irradiated in the United States, there
is a growing effort to include this as a
standard form o f preparation prior to
transport o f food goods. Many
groups favor this "n e w ” form o f
sterilization, and in fact are presently
opposing an Oregon House Bill (H .B .
2539) that simply requires a warning
label on any fixxls that have been
irradiated This bill introduced by
Rep Dave McTeague would require
the following label on all irradiated
fix 'd : “ W A R N IN G : This product
(fix 'd ) has been radiated with radio-
acive isotopes for purposes o f preser
vation; the health effects are un
k n o w n ." While this seems to be a lair
compromise to allow Oregonians the
choice o f whether they want to huy
and consume irradiated foods, there
is a strong industrial opposition to
this bill. Opponents o f this legisla
tion include the Oregon Department
o f Agriculture, the Assixiation o f
Oregon Fix'd Industries, and the
Oregon Retail Council. Jame Black o f
the Food and Dairy Division o f the
Agriculture Department testified at
a recent House Committee hearing on
this bill, that "W e don’t think this
process has to result in labeling any
more than the canning o f food does,"
adding that " I t (the warning) would
only feed on public fears about radia
tio n ." This reminds me very much o f
the stance o f Johns Mannville (as
bestos) that infected individuals
should not he informed o f their con
dition or the dangers o f exposure to
asbestos as it is irreversible and it
would only lead to unecessary worry
(see the Politics o f Cancer for an
in-depth report on industries and the
American Cancer Society's lack o f ag
gressiveness
toward
controlling
known cancer causing work and life
related exposures). I feel at this point
that the entire American public is
once again being ignored by indus
try’s attempt to find a convenient
and profitable new tool.
If you feel strongly about the future
o f fix'd irradiation in Oregon, con
tact Rep. MtTeague’s office and/or
your own representative to support
H.B. 2539, introduced by Four law s
on Board Toll-free number to the
slate offices is I -800-892-1211. Two
representatives that appear as swing
votes to get this bill out o f committee
arc Rep. Robin Lindquist and Rep
John School). Additional inform ation
on fix 'd irradiation may be ob
tained by contacting M r. Jeffrey H
Reinhardt o f INFO RM A X , 44 M o n t
gomery St., 5th Floor, San Francisco,
Calif. 94104
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FredMeyer^
Open 9AM to 10PM 7 Days A Weak
Prices Good Wed.. May 29 thru June 4, 1985
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How to get
book contracts
Got a book idea you’d like to see
published? Dazzling a publisher with
a proposal is the key to receiving a
contract, and at the June 4 meeting
o f Willamette Writers, Brian King
will explain how to write one o f those
winning proposals in a show and
tell presentation complete with hand
outs.
King is a writer-entrepreneur whose
first proposal to a Portland publisher
got him going as a "high-tech” w rit
er. His second proposal netted him
a contract fo r six books, and since
then he’s written a total o f 15 books
in the computer field.
After eight years as a police o ffi
cer, King turned his talents to busi
ness and marketing, becoming a self-
taught microcomputer expert. When
he’s not adding to his impressive
stack o f computer-oriented books,
he’ll be writing a murder mystery —
King's proposal for a book in that
genre dazzled the editors a, Delacorte
and Dell, and snagged him a contract.
The June 4 meeting o f Willamette
Writers w ill be held at 7:15 p.m. at
the Imperial Hotel, 400 S.W. Broad
way, and is open to the public. There
is a $2 50 fee for non members. D in
ner will he served preceding the meet
ing, beginning at 6:30. The cost is
$9.20 and this includes gratuity. Res
ervations are necessary and can be
made by calling Lois Webb at
244-7664 or Tot Jones at 244-5872.
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