Does Your Hamburger Glow in the Dark?

In Washington, both Giant and Safeway sell irradiated ground beef in their stores, marketing it as a "safe" choice for consumers. But there is a long list of unanswered questions about irradiated food.

Irradiation is a tool for large meat processing corporations to mask filthy conditions at slaughtering plants and sell dirty meat with reduced liability. Public Citizen says it is an unnecessary technology that poses health risks and exacerbates the inhumane, unhealthy and environmentally damaging conditions at large, factory-style farms.

Facts About Food Irradiation

* Irradiation depletes vitamins and nutrients in food.

* Irradiation disrupts the chemical composition of food, creating chemicals called "radiolytic products," which the FDA has never studied for safety.

* Research dating to the 1950s has revealed a wide range of problems in animals fed irradiated foods, including premature death, cancer, stillbirths, genetic damage, organ malfunctions and stunted growth.

* The meat industry uses irradiation to mask the carriers of E. coli, feces and other contaminants from filthy feedlots and slaughterhouses, rather than preventing these problems at the source.

* Irradiation puts your local butcher's job at risk because the meat is not processed in the store. Instead, it is ground and packaged at central processing facilities and shipped to the store, ready to go into the meat case without any handling by store employees.

What Can You Do?

* Let the meat manager at your local Giant and Safeway know that you are not going to buy ground meat from them because you understand that they are selling irradiated product.

* Help share this information with other Safeway and Giant shoppers with flyers from Public Citizen. Call Monique at 202/454-5185.

* Send a free fax to Safeway, Giant and other supermarkets selling irradiated meat by clicking here.