For the first time the Food and Drug Administration is allowing food producers to irradiate spinach and iceberg lettuce in order to protect against illness and kill E. coli, salmonella and few other germs. This long-awaited move amid increasing outbreaks from raw produce has met with both criticism as well as appreciation. People concerned with food safety have condemned the agency’s decision and fear the irradiation could with the addition of unsafe chemicals make the food nutritionally lower in value along with ruining taste.

Patty Lovera, assistant director of Food and Water Watch said, “It’s a total cop-out. They don’t have the resources, the authority or the political will to really protect consumers from unsafe food.”

On the other hand Dr. Laura Tarantino, FDA's chief of food additive safety says the agency has found there to be no serious nutritional or safety change associated with the irradiation of either spinach or lettuce. “These irradiated foods are not less safe than others,” Dr. Tarantino said, “and the doses are effective in reducing the level of disease-causing micro-organisms.” Tarantino added, "What this does is give producers and processors one more tool in the toolbox to make these commodities safer and protect public health." Farms and processors must comply with safety standards and keep the greens as clean as possible, while consumers too should take care and wash the leaves well before eating, she further added.

Dole Food Company, a California-based company confirmed that it is considering irradiated lettuce. Company spokesman William Goldfield said, "We are currently doing extensive testing with irradiation and it looks to be very promising."

Robert Brackett, chief scientist for the Grocery Manufacturers Association, said, “This is probably one of the single most significant food safety actions done for fresh produce in many years.” Their association petitioned the agency in 2000 to allow manufacturers to irradiate a wide variety of processed meats, fruits and vegetables and prepared foods. The recent outbreak in 2006 of E. coli in spinach killed three people and almost 200 fell sick was an example.

Food processors have been allowed for a long time now by the government to irradiate beef, eggs, poultry, oysters and spices. The reason the market for irradiated foods is tiny could be because the government also requires that these foods be labeled as irradiated, and these labels scare away most consumers though the F.D.A. is considering a proposal to weaken or change this labeling requirement.  "It's one big step forward in improving the safety of fresh produce," Brackett added.

Food safety experts feel that irradiation can safely kill certain bacteria but it is unable to kill viruses that are increasingly contaminating produce and may not be as effective a solution as taking measures to prevent contamination starting at the farm. Caroline Smith DeWaal of the Center for Science in the Public Interest said, "It won't control all hazards on these products. We are not opposed to the use of irradiation.  But, "it's expensive and it doesn't really address the problem at the source." A study by the Centers for Science in the Public Interest found most outbreaks of illnesses associated with salad are caused by viruses, which are not affected by the doses of radiation approved by the F.D.A.

Though the FDA has determined that irradiation can kill E. coli, salmonella and listeria, as well as lengthen shelf life, without compromising the safety, texture or nutrient value of raw spinach lettuce, there are problems. E. coli is fairly sensitive to radiation and a small dose does the needful, while salmonella and listeria require more energy. The FDA ruled that food companies could use a dose somewhat lower than meat requires, lowering the germs in the produce.

Consumer advocate DeWaal has found that as E. coli and salmonella tend to affect more people they are more in people’s minds, though norovirus contamination is a leading cause of produce outbreaks. “The agency is choosing to have a high-tech expensive solution to a problem that needs a more thorough approach and one that really starts on the farm,” said DeWaal.

Consumers biggest fears are that there would be radiation after effects left in the food, FDA's Tarantino stressed that the food itself harbors no radiation."There is no residue, there's nothing left and certainly no radioactivity left," she said. Harlan Clemmons, president of Sadex, a food irradiation company based in Sioux City, Iowa said, “People think the product is radioactive.”

People pro irradiation say the technology can help reduce illness and the number of outbreaks.

Federal officials say till they can study and implement the science behind proposals to require good agricultural practices, irradiation could help till then. Dr. Tarantino of the F.D.A. said, “This is not a magic bullet,” she said. “It’s not a solution for everything. It’s one more option that people can use.”