It’s hard to believe, but long ago (in the days of yore, perhaps), people ate vegetables without even mentioning the word E. coli. Bacteria be damned. These people were using leeches to treat fevers, and lo and behold, the population did not die out from vegetable-induced bacterial maladies.
Today, in a world of post-Salmonella Jack in the Box and recalled bags of spinach, the battle against E. coli tainted food wages on.
The current weapon of choice? Potent chlorine baths. Leafy greens are washed before they are bagged and sent to local grocery stores.
According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, scientists are looking for a more foolproof method to eradicate all traces of E. coli from your nutritious greens.
Irradiation involves zapping food with high-energy gamma or electron rays to essentially nuke away pathogens. Scientists have been eager to find such a solution since last year’s contaminated spinach crisis that killed three and left 200 others ill.
The E. coli carrying leafy greens had been triple-rinsed at a plant in San Juan Bautista. Today, that same plant and many others are grappling with the idea of irradiation.
I’m all for scientists, health officials and the general public discussing a way to ensure the safety of every salad. But when people start talking about throwing gamma rays into my food to kill something that I will inevitably be exposed to anyway, I find myself shaking my head.
Irradiation may be an effective means of killing E. coli within leaves, yet it’s not without its risks.
Consumer groups are raising doubts about the safety of such a process, as well as the possible presence of radioactive waste and outside radiation.
If that isn’t disheartening enough, I think of irradiated food and immediately see a plate full of glowing radioactive leaves. Apart from that, what if consuming mass amounts of this bacteria-free kryptonite leads to a world of calcium-enriched superheroes?
Suddenly, it all makes sense.
The Incredible Hulk, in all of his green glory, became his muscular alter ego after exposure to a blast of gamma rays.
Popeye ate spinach to restore himself to full strength.
Combine the two – radioactive spinach – and every human could become a large, green, high-tempered sailor man.
Superheroes and the threat of mutations aside, we must confront a few more issues before jumping the gamma-ray gun.
Scientists have yet to determine how common internalized bacteria are and whether or not such pathogens are responsible for disease outbreaks.
For right now, I’ll take my chances with E. coli. My weapon of choice – Purell hand sanitizer.
Kendra Fujino is a senior journalism major and a contributing writer for the Daily Forty-Niner.
