Controlling Radioactive Fallout Contamination

Many people are concerned about possible contamination of the Nation's food and milk supply with radioactive fallout from nuclear tests.Our milk and food are not in danger today from such contamination.Radiation levels are still below the point of any serious concern.Conservative estimates place the daily consumption of Strontium ~° in our entire diet at the lower levels of Range II of the Federal Radiation Council's recommended standards and guides--considerably below the levels at which special counternmasures would be considered.Milk represents one of our Nation's most important foods.It forms a major part of the diet of infants and growing children.Its consumption by teen-agers and pregnant mothers is highly desirable.Its nutritional elements, as the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academy of Sciences pointed out, would be difficult to replace without considerable added expense.Even with the abundant food supplies available in this country, the White House Conference on Youth in 1960 reported that over 30% of our teenage girls lack sufficient calcium in their diet.The diets of 20% of the boys in the same age group were likewise deficient.These deficiencies could cause more serious consequences than present levels of radioactive contamination.Medical and public health authorities have been concerned for some time that many people might give up drinking milk or eating essential foods for fear they may be contaminated with radioactivity.That kind of reaction could do far nmre harm to health than the infinitesimal amounts of radioactivity found in some foods.This concern has been expressed by such authorities as Dr. Luther L. Terry, Surgeon General of the Public Health Service; Dr.