Turmeric and Food Safety

I decided to dip my spoon further into the benefits (or not) of turmeric after reading this issue's bio-blog by Alison Campbell and ended up learning about how food safety methods are being dropped due to consumer pressure based on unscientific thinking.

My journey started with my usual weekly shop. At my local supermarket I was looking at two of the brands available and noticed one was marked as ‘eco' and was in a cardboard box, the other in plastic jar with a plastic lid. There was also a difference in the descriptions – one said “It has antiseptic and antibacterial qualities”, while the other mentioned nothing of such qualities. I wondered given my new knowledge of the levels of curcumin needed for efficacy what other nonsense I could find exploring that brand further, so I bought the one with the ‘special qualities' and took it home.

I ended up making a very good pumpkin and carrot soup (using cooking oil and black pepper), and while eating it I thought I'd give the manufacturer's website a google, and I found something that gave me pause.

I also tried a Tur-meric latte which was $5 for a small cup (for science). It was ok, like a sweet chai, but I think I'll stick to my tradi-tional coffee bean based beverage next time, which gives me a real boost and is slightly cheaper.

The website states that they avoid irradiation wherever possible. More and more I was thinking I should have chosen the other brand.

Back in 2005 Raymond Richards wrote a great article for NZ Skeptics about Green Party members' irrational beliefs around the harm of irradiated food, specifically that it causes cancer. He went on to explain about the real dangers of food poisoning brought on by certain dangerous forms of toxin producing E-coli that is mostly an inconvenience, but can be fatal in children and vulnerable people.

I thought, based on that and the fact that I tend to be swayed by the results of scientifically conducted studies rather than scare mongering, I would give the eco brand a miss next time and go for the other presumably irradiated, safer brand instead.

To my disappointment, a quick google found that the big brand had been swayed by consumer pressure to drop the use of irradiation in its food safe practices.

NaturefirstUSA.org is one of many organisations pushing for food companies to stop using irradiation, and they posted a list of companies who had given way to common sense to appease customers:

“Cerebos have recently joined the green category of the Irradiation Free Food Guide. Cerebos brands include: Riva, Mocopan, Gravox, Fountain, Saxa, Foster Clark's desserts, Tandaco and also Cerebos Gregg's Ltd, which operates in New Zealand.

Masterfoods, Nerada Tea, Kookaburra Raw Peanuts & Camp Oven Mixes Cake Mixes, Grove Fruit Juice and Bakers Delight have all sent through irradiation-free policies and will now be listed in the green section of the Irradiation-free Food Guide.”

So in the end is the choice between food served with a dash of nonsense, and a chance of food poisoning, or otherwise?

As irradiation must be only one of many methods of controlling food borne containments, I find that doubtful, especially given the strong food safety guidelines that are in place in this country. The real chance of food poisoning from turmeric would be very low to none, but what a shame that the choices for skeptical consumers who would like the option of irradiated food are dwindling.

Symbol for irradiated food

Next time you're out shopping you can identify irradiated foods by the symbol here.