Food that's, like, totally rad

Last year the FDA ruled to allow the irradiation of fruits and vegetables to kill insects and retard spoilage. The federal government has been a powerful proponent of food irradiation since the 1940's, when the army explored the procedure as a way of preserving troop rations. Much of the safety testing on this process has been subsidized by the pentagon. Now the DOE is promoting the use of cesium 137, a waste product of weapons production, as the radioactive substance to be used for the sterilizing of food and medical products. Critics of this process say that there has not been enough research on the long term effects of the ingesting irradiated foods. Since the public has not been willing to accept products that are labeled with the words treated with irradiation, the controversy will probably not heat up until April 1988 when the labeling requirement expires