Guess what the FDA is gonna do to our spinach and lettuce!

On Google News, there's a couple of links about this, thought U might like to know a little more about it. Seems they wanna use a little radiation on more of our food, oh joy! Go here to read more.

From Wikipedia:
Irradiation is the process by which an item is exposed to radiation. The exposure can be intentional, sometimes to serve a specific purpose, or it can be accidental. In common usage the term refers specifically to ionizing radiation, and to a level of radiation that will serve that specific purpose, rather than radiation exposure to normal levels of background radiation or abnormal levels of radiation due to accidental exposure. This term also applies to 'non-ionizing radiation as microwaves or to low frequency (50/60 Hz power supply), high frequency (as cellular phones, radio and TV transmissions).

Food irradiation[1] is the process of exposing food to ionizing radiation in order to destroy microorganisms, bacteria, viruses, or insects that might be present in the food. Further applications include sprout inhibition, delay of ripening, increase of juice yield, and improvement of re-hydration. Irradiation is a more general term of deliberate exposure of materials to radiation to achieve a technical goal (in this context 'ionizing radiation' is implied). As such it is also used on non-food items, such as medical hardware, plastics, tubes for gas-pipelines, hoses for floor-heating, shrink-foils for food packaging, automobile parts, wires and cables (isolation), tires, and even gemstones. Compared to the amount of food irradiated, the volume of those every-day applications is huge but not noticed by the consumer.
The genuine effect of processing food by ionizing radiation relates to damages to the DNA, the basic genetic information for life. Microorganisms can no longer proliferate and continue their malignant or pathogen activities. Spoilage-causing micro-organisms cannot continue their activities. Insects do not survive or become incapable of proliferation. Plants cannot continue the natural ripening or aging process.[1]
The speciality of processing food by ionizing radiation is that the energy density per atomic transition is very high; it can cleave molecules and induce ionization (hence the name), which is not achieved by mere heating. This is the reason for both new effects and new concerns. The treatment of solid food by ionizing radiation can provide an effect similar to heat pasteurization of liquids, such as milk. However, the use of the term "cold pasteurization" to describe irradiated foods is controversial, since pasteurization and irradiation are fundamentally different processes.
Food irradiation is currently permitted by over 40 countries and volumes are estimated to exceed 500 000 metric tons annually world wide.


*and my kids wonder why I want to garden :-)