A Dec. 26 letter lauded Congress for passing the FDA Modernization Act of 1997, which updates the drug approval process at the Food and Drug Administration.
Readers should know that another provision of the same act, approved with no hearings and little publicity, virtually dismantled traditional labeling requirements for irradiated foods.
Heretofore, the FDA required irradiated whole foods to be “prominently and conspicuously” labeled with the “radura” symbol and the words “treated with irradiation.” In the new act, the radura is gone, and manufacturers are allowed to hide irradiation disclosure information in print “no more prominent than required for the declaration of ingredients.”
Pro-irradiation forces, convinced they know what is best for consumers, have sharply restricted the ability of shoppers to make their own decisions.
