?近日，美国艾荷华州大学的一名研究人员称，缺少辐射杀菌可能是大肠杆菌致病的一个可能原因。
??动物学教授Dennis Olson说。“如果含有大肠杆菌O157:H7的菠菜被紫外照射杀菌的话，就不会导致199例致病，102例住院和3例死亡了。”他同时负责和主管艾荷华州商业的辐射装置－线性加速仪。
??早在20年前美国食品药品监督管理局(FDA)就允许利用紫外照射的方式杀死水果和蔬菜中的虫子，目前这项技术还没有运用于食物的病源细菌的控制，这归因于FDA的批准程序。1986年，大肠杆菌就被定义为病源性细菌，而用辐射方式杀灭细菌的技术却被搁置了6年。尽管FDA没有因此受到任何外部的压力，消费者和食品工业却需要快速通过这项技术来处理一些即食的食品。
??采用辐射的方式可杀灭导致食源性疾病的微生物，辐射过程中，能量波会杀灭不好的微生物，而且不会残留在食物中。辐射杀菌技术在其他大约36个国家都已被批准，实际应用却很少，因为消费者和杀菌装置太费钱的原因。
??在美国，目前FDA批准了辐射可以用于杀灭小麦、土豆、面粉、辣椒、茶叶、水果和蔬菜中的虫子。辐射还可以用于控制植物的发芽和成熟。1985年，批准用辐射了控制猪肉的旋毛虫，鸡肉中的沙门氏菌和其他有害细菌。2000年批准用于鸡蛋的杀菌。
英文原文：
Irradiation May be the Answer to E. coli Outbreaks
Irradiation of produce could be a possible solution to outbreaks of E. coli, says an Iowa State University professor.
"If the spinach that contained E. coli O157:H7 in the outbreak in September and October had been irradiated, there would not have been 199 cases of illness, 102 hospitalizations and three deaths," said Dennis Olson, professor of animal science.
Olson is professor-in-charge of Iowa State's Linear Accelerator Facility, a commercial-size irradiation facility.
Although the Food and Drug Administration approved using irradiation to destroy insects in fruits and vegetables 20 years ago, the same technology can't be used on those foods to control pathogen bacteria.
"It's all because of a quirk in the FDA's rule making process," Olson said.
"The regulation was written in about 1986 before E. coli was identified as pathogen bacteria. A petition, which would permit the use of irradiation for bacterial control of fruits and vegetables, has been under review with the FDA for over six years," he said.
"Six years is a long time for reviewing a petition on a technology that has been approved in many countries," he said.
"Although the FDA is not supposed to be influenced by external pressure, consumer and industry requests for the availability of irradiation to protect ready-to-eat foods would help get the agency to move on the petition," Olson said.
Irradiation uses ionizing radiation to kill organisms that cause foodborne illness. During irradiation, the energy waves affect unwanted organisms, but are not retained in the food. Irradiation has been approved for many uses in about 36 countries, but only a few applications are used because of consumer concern and because the facilities are expensive to build.
In the United States, the FDA has approved irradiation for eliminating insects from wheat, potatoes, flour, spices, tea, fruits and vegetables. Irradiation also can be used to control sprouting and ripening. Approval was given in 1985 to irradiate pork to control trichinosis. Using irradiation to control Salmonella and other harmful bacteria in chicken, turkey and other fresh and frozen uncooked poultry was approved in 1990. In l997, the FDA approved the use of irradiation to control pathogens (disease causing micro-organisms such as E. coli and Salmonella species) in fresh and frozen red meats such as beef, lamb and pork. In 2000, the FDA approved irradiation of shell eggs to control Salmonella. In 2005, approval was issued to irradiate shellfish to control vibio.
