Despite the efforts of health authorities in various regions of the nation, we can’t seem to get rid of the E-Coli virus, which sometimes resides in tainted meat or poultry. Every so often, several persons — as if in a cluster — come down with the foul virus.
We keep getting nothing but words and shrugs from federal and state officials, who accept the false notion that nothing can be done. They continue to talk only about solving the serious problem by adding more layers of bureaucracy and millions more in tax dollars to pay for them.
The solution is already at hand — if only we can banish the hysteria that attends proven scientific solutions. The best answer is the irradiation of meat products. Strangely enough, irradiation has already been used successfully to make poultry safe. One would think the poultry example would be enough to apply the irradiation process to meats, as well. But, no! Hysteria has prevented us from using irradiation to ensure the safety of beef and other meat products.
Even the Food and Drug Administration, which usually is on the side of excessive safety measures, has approved the irradiation process. Irradiation kills bacteria, bugs, and other unwanted elements without affecting the food itself. It’s a relatively cheap and a very efficient method of doing the job and making the food supply safe.
A large irradiation plant has been operating for several years in Florida and is a gigantic success story; that is, it is a success story despite the interference and constant squawking of extremist environmental groups. Other proposed plants have been stalled only by the hysterical fringe that hates the thought of scientific progress.
How can we resolve these frequent assaults by militant environmentalists? As I have mentioned on many occasions, one sure way is to adopt a proposal made long ago by my learned old friend, the late Dr. Dixy Lee Ray, who suggested to Congress that it spearhead the creation of a Supreme Court of Science.
The court’s members would be renowned and respected scientists from every branch of science. They would hear arguments on both sides of issues — such as the benefits and safety of irradiation. As Dr. Ray suggested, the Science Court would not make decisions in any case; it would simply issue summaries or reports on its findings that would be the basis of official policy adopted by the White House and Congress.
How many more serious illnesses and deaths have to be recorded before Congress and the federal bureaucracy listen to reason, make the Supreme Court of Science a reality, and make E-Coli and other food-derived illnesses things of the past?