IATP Hog Report - Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy

Section 2
destroyed, leaving behind "empty calorie" food. 167 And, because ionizing
radiation dislodges electrons from molecules, irradiation leads to the
formation of bizarre new chemicals in food called "unique radiolytic
products," which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has never
studied for potential toxicity. 168 The FDA has also failed to determine a
level of radiation to which food can be exposed and still be safe for human
consumption, which federal law requires. 169 And, the FDA has ignored
research dating to the 1950s revealing 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. 170
All told, irradiation promises to do more harm than good. The food
industry needs to clean up its operations with thoughtful solutions that will
preserve the integrity not only of the food production system, but of our
food supply itself.
Some Strategies and Alternatives for Improving the Safety and
Quality of Animal Production
Occupational Safety and Health
http://www.iatp.org/hogreport/sec2.html (22 of 38)2/27/2006 3:50:06 AM
1. Get strict occupational safety and health standards and
enforcement applied to confinement livestock operations.
Rationale: The burden of safety must rest with employers who
choose to use and who profit by using cheap liquid manure
handling and intensive confinement.
2. Ban handling of manure as a liquid.
Rationale: Handling manure as a solid will reduce the hazards
associated with storage and disposal of animal feces and urine to
workers, farm animals, and the environment and will eliminate
fatalities associated with manure pits.
3. Require reduction in the stocking density in livestock confinement
buildings to reduce the percentage of airborne dust, animal dander,
and feed particles in confinement building air, thus lessening
exposure.
4. Continue to support research to quantify airborne contaminants in
confinement buildings, determine their impacts on human and
animal health, and reduce their numbers. Support research
comparing respiratory health impacts of alternative methods of
production.