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Ask HN: Why isn't radiation used to sterilize raw foods (like sashimi, eggs)?

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Re: Ask HN: Why isn't radiation used to sterilize raw foods (like sashimi, eggs)?

#51

Post by spicymaki »

giantg2 wrote: post #42
spicymaki wrote: post #16

Many people think GMOs, Bluetooth and 5G causes cancer no matter how much evidence you provide that it doesn't. It is unlikely they will accept irradiation even if it means a less healthy food supply.

I mean, that's a pretty shallow statement and may even be misrepresenting their position. GMOs themselves my not be linked to cancer. Higher levels of glycophosphate could have some risk. There could be some unknown risks of cellphone/wifi/etc. It's not a bad idea to limit exposure where it makes sense (like scheduling your wifi to turn off during sleeping hours). What we do know about wireless radiation around these…

You are right that people are concerned about glycophosphate (not arguing about that), but people are also concerned about GMOs themselves causing cancer.

e.g. https://www.greenmatters.com/p/gmo-side-effects

The unknown risks are unknown and we should not make policy decisions without evidence. People turn unknown risks into fear mongering campaigns.

Re: Ask HN: Why isn't radiation used to sterilize raw foods (like sashimi, eggs)?

#52

Post by Ekaros »

TheRealPomax wrote: post #10

Because as much as the ads yell about disinfecting, very little actually needs disinfecting in order to be safe for you. And of course eggs are their own special story. They already come with a protective coating. The US and Canada just washes it off, actually making the eggs _less_ safe, necessitating refrigeration.

And it is possible to have salmonella free eggs. Though getting to that point is hard and expensive. I'm not sure if irradiation is the correct way to attain it.

Re: Ask HN: Why isn't radiation used to sterilize raw foods (like sashimi, eggs)?

#53

Post by giantg2 »

spicymaki wrote: post #51
giantg2 wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, that's a pretty shallow statement and may even be misrepresenting their position. GMOs themselves my not be linked to cancer. Higher levels of glycophosphate could have some risk. There could be some unknown risks of cellphone/wifi/etc. It's not a bad idea to limit exposure where it makes sense (like scheduling your wifi to turn off during sleeping hours). What we do know about wireless radiation around these…

You are right that people are concerned about glycophosphate (not arguing about that), but people are also concerned about GMOs themselves causing cancer. e.g. https://www.greenmatters.com/p/gmo-side-effects The unknown risks are unknown and we should not make policy decisions without evidence. People turn unknown risks into fear mongering campaigns.

Sure, there are some people with unreasonable and unsupported positions, like thinking GMOs cause cancer. The person I was responding to had essentially strawmanned by picking the most extreme position to argue against and implying there were no risks to even contemplate.

"The unknown risks are unknown and we should not make policy decisions without evidence."

I wasn't talking about policy. I had mentioned basic personal steps someone could take to reduce exposure and provide other benefits as well (energy savings, security, etc).

But when we are making policy decisions we should look at evidence from both sides of the argument. Right now we know that it increases glucose metabolism and we know that glucose metabolism is linked to various issues. We also have studies showing there are some known risks, and many agencies say their safety is undetermined or needs more studies (CDC and IARC). I'm not proposing we make any policy against wireless technologies, but I also don't think we should promote their use without some caution and continued research.

Also, what was your link about? I didn't see them stating anything about GMOs causing cancer. In fact, they said there's no evidence of it.

Re: Ask HN: Why isn't radiation used to sterilize raw foods (like sashimi, eggs)?

#55

Post by TheRealPomax »

Ekaros wrote: post #52
TheRealPomax wrote: post #10

Because as much as the ads yell about disinfecting, very little actually needs disinfecting in order to be safe for you. And of course eggs are their own special story. They already come with a protective coating. The US and Canada just washes it off, actually making the eggs _less_ safe, necessitating refrigeration.

And it is possible to have salmonella free eggs. Though getting to that point is hard and expensive. I'm not sure if irradiation is the correct way to attain it.

Even in the US, eggs have been salmonella free for decades now. There is literally no reason for North America to wash eggs anymore, other than "this is how we do it, it would cost us more to change than to just keep doing this".

Which ironically of course keeps people thinking that it's still in place because it's necessary when it really, really isn't. It hasn't actually been necessary for longer than most of us have been alive now.

Heck: lettuce has been a vector for salmonella several orders of magnitude greater than eggs =)

Re: Ask HN: Why isn't radiation used to sterilize raw foods (like sashimi, eggs)?

#56

Post by pvaldes »

WalterBright wrote: post #24
pvaldes wrote: post #22

You are taking the point of view of the final user, but would be better to focus in the process. Food workers will manipulate thousands of Kg of food each month. Even small doses of radiation from each one those packages would accumulate over time in this people, reaching a safety threshold. Radiation would be a logistic nightmare for the packaging company, requiring extensive periods of forced "holidays", healthcare…

X-rays and gamma rays do not induce radioactivity.

All that I can say is that there is a limit to the number of a radiography exposure that a worker can take in a year, so maybe there is some risk, somewhere, in using this machines. Maybe is more complicated in the real life with regulations. Dunno.
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