ZAPPING THE GERMS.

ANYWAY YOU LOOK AT IT, Health Canada's notion of bombarding food with radiation to kill dangerous germs is going be a tough sell. Most consumers would probably cringe if they knew the cheeseburger they were about to clamp down on had been zapped with enough radiation to kill a horse -- the equivalent of about 30 million chest X-rays. But these are not glow-in-the-dark burgers. Irradiated food is not radioactive. While the process creates chemical by-products in the food, Bruce Lauer, head of Health Canada's food additives and contaminants section, says animal tests show it's safe. Not everyone is convinced. That's partly why Health Canada invited public comment last week after it recommended food processing companies be allowed to irradiate poultry, ground beef, shrimp, prawns and mangos. Consumers at least have a choice. In Canada, food treated with radioactivity must be labelled "treated with radiation," "treated by irradiation" or the equivalent, and bear a symbol called the radura. It's simple: if you don't want irradiated food, don't buy it.