The Food and Drugs Administration said that it will allow the irradiation of spinach and lettuce. The decision was made in order to further protect the consumers from the risk of being infected with certain bacteria that might taint these greens. However, the FDA doesn't have any plans to allow the irradiation of any other vegetables so far.

The decision might have been taken because of the E.coli outbreak that killed 3 persons last years and sickened 250 people. The irradiation of foods at certain levels kills the microorganisms that might be present on them.

So far, some meats, especially beef, have been allowed by the government to be irradiated, but it was required that specific labeling should be applied to these products. The labeling caused a lot of people to stay away from these meats, for fear that they might be radioactive.

The FDA rule says that “The agency has determined that this action is of a type that does not individually or cumulatively have a significant effect on the human environment.”

The decision stirred protests from some consumer groups. The reason for the protests of these groups is that they consider that the Food and Drugs Administration should have taken measures as to assure that the crops are better protected against contamination, rather than allowing this sort of food processing.

However, the decision might represent an immediate solution to the problem of food contamination, and might give the agency time to find better ways of preventing crop contamination.