Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/fda-weighs-approval-of-irradiating-produce Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript In the wake of last fall's E. coli outbreaks, some scientists and businesses are encouraging the Food and Drug Administration to approve the use of bacteria-killing radiation to treat produce such as spinach and lettuce. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. TOM BEARDEN, NewsHour Correspondent: The spinach in this bowl was deliberately contaminated with enough E. coli bacteria to kill a human being. No amount of rinsing could make it safe to eat.But businessmen Harlan Clemmons and Dave Corbin dumped on some salad dressing and ate it anyway, betting their lives on a process called irradiation. HARLAN CLEMMONS, Sadex President: I am very confident in the process. What we do here has over 100 years of research behind it. TOM BEARDEN: Clemmons runs an irradiation facility for the Sadex Corporation in Sioux City, Iowa. He says irradiation could prevent many of the 5,000 deaths and 76 million illnesses that occur each year from contaminated food.The claim is getting new attention, in light of the recent E. coli outbreaks involving spinach and lettuce. HARLAN CLEMMONS: I think the public needs to be aware of what capabilities in food safety is out there. There's no reason for human illness due to pathogens; there's no reason for people to get sick when we have the technology. TOM BEARDEN: Although irradiation has already been approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat some foods, like spices, wheat, red meats and poultry, it has not been widely embraced by the public, like people like San Francisco health food store owner Gilles DeSaulniers. GILLES DESAULNIERS, Harvest Urban Market: I couldn't imagine eating irradiated food. It's just the idea horrifies me. I feel like I'm sitting next to a pellet of plutonium. I don't understand why you have to irradiate food. It's making our body lazy, I would think, you know, because you're not exposing it to the elements that otherwise would be in the normal world.