I was not aware until recently that not overly long ago, the United States Food and Drug Association approved irradiating foods and spices (exposing them to radioactive waste materials for a period of time) to kill harmful bacteria and prolong shelf-life. Does this sound like a bad idea to anyone besides me? Here are just a few things I have soused out that also happen to irradiated food:

• Irradiating food can destroy vitamins, essential fatty acids and other essential nutrients. (This seems like a no-brainer.)
• Irradiation can change the odour, flavour, and texture of food.
• Irradiation disrupts the chemical process of everything in its path, not just harmful bacteria.

Not only that, but it encourages slovenliness in health and sanitation practices in slaughterhouses and meat processing plants, and there is no scientific research done on how much radiation is safe for human consumption (don't you think the answer would be NONE?!), or how it affects the human body in the long-term.

"Research dating to the 1950s has revealed a wide range of problems in animals that ate irradiated food, including premature death, a rare form of cancer, reproductive dysfunction, chromosomal abnormalities, liver damage, low weight gain and vitamin deficiencies." (Taken from Dr. Mercola's Site)

Yet again, this is another case where "money talks," because the research that the FDA approved this practice on did not even meet scientific protocols. Worse yet, these foods are often on our supermarket shelves, marketed to an unknowing public with little or no warning about their nature.

For more information on the dangers of irradiation, please visit this site.