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Citizens group
says irradiating food
causes health risks

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Star-Bulletin staff

Public Citizen, a nonprofit watchdog group founded by Green Party presidential hopeful Ralph Nader, has objected to the recent shipping of irradiated papaya and other fruits to the mainland from the Big Island.

Washington, D.C.-based Public Citizen claims consumers are not aware of studies that show irradiated food products could pose health risks by depleting nutrients from food.

Hawai'i Pride LLC, the Big Island company that began shipping fruit treated with radiation this week and the target of the release, disputes the Public Citizen's claims.

"The stuff in this release is trash," said John Clark, chief executive of Hawai'i Pride.

Clark said Public Citizen is a political activist group, not a scientific organization. Other methods of food treatment deplete vitamins and minerals far more than radiation, he noted.

According to the release, "Federal government officials have legalized this technology despite a half-century worth of research revealing serious health problems in lab animals that have eaten irradiated food, including premature death, cancer, immune and reproductive problems."

Clark said the Food & Drug Administration allowed the irradiation of food based on more recent studies.