The US Food and Drink Administration (FDA) knows that there is much evidence that irradiation creates toxic substances in foods, but continues to base its assurances of safety on just five out of 441 studies carried out before the 1980s. Even the chairman of its own Irradiated Food Committee insisted that these studies are inadequate by current standards.

At first glance, irradiating food does not make sense. It is a much more expensive way of preventing contamination than legislating humane farming practices and common sense slaughterhouse sanitation procedures. It is also far more dangerous. The current small, minimally regulated, largely insecure irradiation plants require regular replenishment of (highly radioactive) cobalt or caesium - by road and rail - and have a poor safety record. A nuclear accident at an irradiation plant would endanger the local community, US food exports and the US tourist industry alike.

The US establishment is promoting irradiation for two reasons, both economic:

• Food otherwise unfit for human consumption can be cleaned up and put on sale, never mind that its nutrients have been largely blasted away

• A growing privately-run irradiation industry will be an excellent market for otherwise expensive and difficult to get rid of nuclear waste

See also Irradiation creates unnatural chemicals in food