Opinion: Irradiation of food remains unaddressed safety issue regarding ergothioneine Iowa City Press-Citizen, January 21, 2003 by Marv Brummel The HyVee supermarket chain has no malice in marketing irradiated food. They are responding to consumer demand for quality, convenience and safety. But despite the numerous studies validating its safety, I will continue to protest the claim that these irradiated products are safe for humans. I have for years challenged regulatory agencies (including the Food and Drug Administration), Iowa politicians, researchers and public interest groups with my concerns, with nonexistent or unsatisfactory responses. Among my professional pursuits over three decades were 19 years at what became the University of Iowa's Pediatric Amino Acid Laboratory in the Department of Pediatrics. It was there that I obtained much of the data on the sulfur containing amino acid ergothioneine that I have in my files and on my Web site (www.ergothioneine.com). Ionizing radiation As you read this, ergothioneine is coursing through your body, carried mainly in the red blood cells and stored mainly in your liver. The ergothioneine came from previous meals and varies greatly. Many, if not most foods, contain ergothioneine. Mushrooms, liver and wheat germ are highest. I used to can a lot of produce from my garden. Canning uses thermal energy to kill undesirable organisms by denaturing their macromolecules, a process similar to what happens in the stomach in the early stages of digestion. Some nutrients were lost, but it was better than having spoiled food. The only food I checked before and after cooking was egg white, where the ergothioneine was fully recovered after albumin denaturation. When ionizing radiation was introduced to the sterilization of food, I started writing letters. Ionizing radiation kills everything by indiscriminately rupturing covalent bonds in friend and foe alike, wherever the energy is absorbed. Many new unidentified compounds are formed! Ergothioneine is totally destroyed in the process and my specific concern was what was formed from the ergothioneine originally present in the food? Are these products (especially various thiourylenes) toxic? Since endogenous ergothioneine is conserved in the body, long term studies would be and are needed. Owners of expensive irradiators, captive scientists who can't admit to error lest they lose funding or reputation, and regulatory agencies with pseudo-superior knowledge and expertise, all were unsuccessful in convincing a consuming public of the er-ror in their intuitive sense of diminished food quality after irradiation by a "radioactive" material. Are they toxic? Ultraviolet radiation doesn't penetrate deep enough, and it mutates organisms at sub lethal dosages, so the next best irradiating energy to research was X-rays, intermediate in energy between gamma rays emitted by radioactive isotopes and UV put out by the sun or tanning booths. Since X-rays are formed by an electron beam hitting a target and not from decay of a radioactive isotope, the consumer might be persuaded. But you put on lead shields at the dentist or when the hospital looks for broken bones. While not as forceful or indiscriminate as gamma rays, X-rays have the power to break covalent bonds. My concern remains. What happens to the ergothioneine when X-rays sterilize food? What compounds are formed? Are these the same compounds that are formed when humans are irradiated with X-rays? Are they toxic? I won't lose sleep if I find I have eaten irradiated food (unless it's mushrooms). But I won't buy it when other choices are available. If irradiated food is shown to adversely affect health by modification of endogenous ergothioneine, some blame must be given to consumers who insist the government and regulatory agencies are their saviors in protecting them from ubiquitous pathogens (Should the government legislate that mosquitoes not carry West Nile Virus?). Blame also must be laid at the feet of researchers (and those that fund them) that waste limited funds. The Pediatric Amino Acid Laboratory was closed six years ago, and with it much needed research on ergothioneine was terminated. Until this research is done, don't eat irradiated food when you have acceptable alternatives. Marv Brummel worked for several years at the University of Iowa's Pe-diatric Amino Acid Lab-oratory in the Department of Pediatrics. He can be reached at McBrummel@msn.com.