Nuclear device for the kitchen, yes really

[The Natural Philosopher]

They have a rather lefty bias, and fairly sloppy gosh wow reporting, but it is worth a read now and again.

[bigcat]

Every country suffers loss from food spoilage, and food poisoning. Africa is especially bad on food poisoning because people can not aford to throw food away, so the risks taken are much higher than here. Radiation can reduce that considerably. The lack of domestic fridges doesnt help either.

Rad can also sterilise food that was diseased to start with, again much reducing deaths, by killing bacteria and stopping further production of toxins.

Africa is a continent with a meat-rich diet, very little in the way of health and safety controls, almost no domestic fridges or freezers, and a population desperate for food. A combination of factors leading to relatively high risks of food poisoning.

That isnt whats going to get irradiated, because that isnt the problem.

dying, in massive numbers. Why? Primarily because there isnt enough food. Also infections from food to a lseser extent.

At least today with modern foods and technologies things have greatly improved. Today 0.8 billion out of 6 billion is in poverty, in 1930 it was 2 billion out of 3 billion.

no, that has nothing to do with it

What does should have to do with it? The question is what is. What is is food shortage.

No, it only helps people to get to eat.

obviously

Food shortage is one of the biggest problems, one of many of course. Plenty die from lack of food there. Most people have to work more than full time there just to eat. Maybe you need to do some reading.

NT

[bigcat]

I'll just tackle your one worst sentence here.

Firstly its entirely untrue, reality is masses of people get ill and die from food that has been grown stored processed and cooked properly. Radiation does not eliminate all causes of this, but it does eliminate some, thus reducing deaths.

Secondly a lot of food gets spoiled and ditched before it reaches the table. Again with radiated food less of it goes off within a given time period, so there is less food lost this way.

3rd, and possibly biggest of all, your implication that the solution to Africas food problem is to grow, store, process and cook food properly is truly unrealistic. They do not have the means to do it, or even come close. Its simply a non-starter suggestion. 4th, if radiation can reduce imported food costs, as it can, again that means more food for all in countries that just dont have enough to eat today.

Radiation does not prevent all food poisoning or loss, but it does reduce it.

NT

[Frithiof Andreas Jensen]

Probability 1.0 ... That's the deal with third-world countries. Since nobody bothers with cause of death and barely counts dead people, we cannot quote odds.

A Negative Number, It will go the way it always does:

Vital Parts would be stolen immediately and food would pile up and spoil outside waiting to be irradiated. After many months new parts will arrive under armed escort, but the contract of the engineer responsible for fitting them, will have expired. Nobody else knows what to do and there will be an election in the donor country anyway so the issue will not make it past even the personal letters in any media.

Meanwhile the local government would declare that it was a conspiracy of the Whites/Jews/Christians/Opposition/USA to keep the food away from the people while selling the spoiled food in opposition areas causing disease and malnutrition there. Eventually the UN would send some more dry food, which would end up on the market and push more local farmers out of business increasing the need.

I wonder if all this "saving lives" business is not simply delaying the point where Africa will start to deal with it's own problems, instead of being bailed out by "the west" time after time (and whining about that too).

[Jim Thompson]

[snip]

[snip]

No. The food in the grocery does not meet my definition of fresh. It does not taste as if it were picked at optimum ripeness yesterday. In fact it is substantially tasteless since it was picked weeks ago while still green.

Irradiation of a fruit or vegetable at optimum ripeness stops the progression on into rot, thus giving me the opportunity to enjoy "fresh" again.

...Jim Thompson

[bigcat]

Sure it needs to change, but I dont see any likely mechanism by which countries will change by themselves. So, predictably, very few have.

NT

[Pooh Bear]

Just read this one.

Food irradiation has been used before. I recall horror stories about 'nearly off' prawns that would otherwise have been rejected being irradiated and then sold.

It killed the bacteria but left the toxins aleady there.

Cobalt 90 was used ( whatever that gives off ) and it needed plenty of lead screening !

Graham

[Don Klipstein]

Most bacteria don't produce toxins, and food-spoiling toxin-producing bacteria make food obviously spoiled or at least "off" when there are enough toxins to make the food inedible.

Cooking also does not destroy at least many toxins produced by bacteria. Otherwise spoiled food would always be made safe by cooking it.

- Don Klipstein ( [e-mail])

[Andy Dingley]

Most of the bacteria involved in major food poisoning risks do (rather than those multiplying once they've infected a host). For fish and especially shellfish, the big risk is botulin which is absolutely _infamous_ for the toxin it produces.

Not always, not reliably and certainly not for shellfish. Aflatoxins are another case where the food can be toxic without visible or taste-related taint.