We learned our lesson with the Grapefruit.
this post was submitted on 07 May 2025
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What happened with the grapefruit?
It used to be a cumquat.
Do you want to turn the frickin' frogs gay? Because that's how you turn the frickin' frogs gay.
We do, it's called "cold pasteurization".
- We do! Or, at least we are allowed to. I’m mostly aware of it being done with meats.
-
The FDA requires that irradiated foods bear… the statement “Treated with radiation”…
- The word “radiation” is scary to the general public. It conjures thoughts of glowing rocks and nuclear fallout. It makes folk imagine that their food might be radioactive.
My brother runs away from the microwave whenever my parents turn it on... 🤣🤦♂️
Did I mention he's vaccine skeptical?
Wouldn’t irradiation also affect the good bacteria? Like would one still be able to ferment it?
it affects the good bacteria. You can't make ginger bug with irradiated ginger for instance.
Yes, though it does not affect the nutritive content or prevent subsequent cultures from taking root, so you can still inoculate irradiated foodstuffs with live ginger bug, yeast, scoby, mother, etc. or open air ferment.
Yes the myth that irradiating something makes it radioactive is a very persistent one.
The reason radioactive material is so dangerous, is because it has the tendency to spread around. Not the radiation, but the material itself. Then people get exposed to that radiation and hurt themselves. There is a particularly tragic accident that happened in 1987 in Brazil where thousands of people got exposed to a stolen radioactive material. Especially when the material sheds dust it's very dangerous because it can then easily be ingested and even low levels of radiation which normally wouldn't penetrate the skin can cause issues inside the body.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goi%C3%A2nia_accident
Another reason the myth persists is because high enough levels of radiation can cause other materials to become radioactive. However on Earth this is only the case inside of fission and fusion nuclear reactors. And the source of a lot of the radioactive waste. But outside of that, nothing on Earth will make another thing become radioactive.
I know a lot of the food used in the military is normally irradiated. This allows for a long shelf life, which is particularly useful if you are ~~killing kids~~ spreading freedom on the other side of the world.
I wouldn't be bothered if the label said my food might me a bit radioactive. But I imagine dragons would.
🧐 Subtle. Accepted.
We do kind of irradiate some of our foods, but it's weak radiation like UV.
We do if you are a dustmite
I don't think it's physically possible for Americans or any other human to radiate food out of themselves.
Ukraine radiates food all over Europe and Africa - metaphorically speaking. At least, they did prior to the Russo-Ukraine war. Don't know if they do anymore.
If I eat a lot of certain aliums and/or spices, you will definitely find it radiating out of me.
What a rad person you are!
You roentgent a contradictory response out of me, even if you try to Curie favor.
I'm pretty sure plenty of you actually sweat gravy based on the size of them
We do irradiate various foods, have been doing it for many years. The commenters who immediately started ranting about "how stupid we are" didn't seem to check first. I first learned that we did it with strawberries and a few other things many years ago (in the 90's maybe), but never bothered to looked up exactly what all foods we irradiate. So I don't know about alfalfa sprouts, but I suppose there are probably reasons why it's done with some things and not others, such as which ones it's safer and/or more effective on, and how it affects the quality of different foods.
The FDA first approved the use of irradiation in 1963 to kill pests in wheat and flour. To date, the FDA and the USDA have approved food irradiation for use on fruits, vegetables, spices, raw poultry, and red meats. https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and-preparation/food-safety-basics/irradiation-and-food-safety-faq
We can, but I suspect we don't because the disclosure requirements would hurt sales. Without massive public education campaigns to convince people that it's not as stupid as letting kids play with Xray machines every time they went to the shoe store up until the 1970s, people will be unsure. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoe-fitting_fluoroscope
Since ionizing radiation from medical procedures, nuclear weapons and reactors is a known cause of cancer [ www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/radiation ], it would be quite a project to get the entire US public to believe that exposing your food to the process is different than exposing your body to it.
Irradiated foods can be recognized by the presence of the international symbol for irradiation on the packaging along with the words "Treated with Radiation," or "Treated by Irradiation."
Because we're stupid. Like on an institutional, industrialized level of just dumb motherfuckers. Intentionally so as a policy choice by our government.
It could literally be the cure to all foodborne illness and half this country would be howling like rabid baboons about how it's unnatural and it morphs the DNA of the irradiated item so that it it gives you super aids and makes you transgender.
Don't waste your time worrying about us. We're breathtakingly fucking stupid and arrogantly proud of it. Just let us die. Little of value will be lost.
This comment proves its own argument.
What a nothing comment. With so many food safety laws this is just nonsense.
removed please. We've just watched a failed game show host president destroy a century of US Economic Hegemony because the stupid son of a removed doesn't know how tariffs work and half the country is cheering him on.
You cannot win this one. Don't waste your time.
One president doesn’t make all law cease to exist. Removed? More like blocked for being aggressively ignorant.
No that wasn't me. Stupid Automod bullshit in here.
I used the word "ibtch". Flip the 2 first letters.
I don't think I've ever had the word bitch be filtered for me, is that a .ml thing? Or maybe it'll filter in this comment.
It is indeed a .ml thing.
It is an .ml thing
I honestly don't know. But it happens occasionally. Not sweating it yet. But a slow creep of redditfication is showing a bit.
Its just .ml
It costs money.
there it is
because Americans think they will get cancer from anything that has radiation attached to it. Because we're science illiterate and the rich find it easier to control idiots.
I would say call it "ion pasteurization" or something like that, but considering some people want raw milk that wouldn't matter.
It's already called "cold pasteurization."
That sounds too sciency for most Americans.
There's a small (and best of all free) museum in Philly called the Science History Institute.
Until a couple years ago, it went by the Chemical Heritage Foundation
Which I personally thought was a much cooler name.
Officially the name change was to reflect that their focus includes more than just chemistry,
But I have a sneaking suspicion that a big part of the reason for the change was that the old name just kind of creeped people out, and I'll admit it had a bit of a mad scientist ring to it.
Anyway, cool little museum for anyone who finds themselves in Philly, do recommend.