"We're afraid that the government may take quite a long time to solve its problem with irradiated mail."
		In addition to those initial complaints about irradiated mail, which we've just mentioned, and the incidents mentioned at the beginning of this article, various other recent news items have suggested that irradiation of mail is causing real problems. But the federal government doesn't seem to be dealing with the problem very effectively. Perhaps government could solve this dilemma by enlisting the help of private companies for which unorthodoxy and heterogeneity could also be issues.        When Marsh Supermarket began selling irradiated meat two or three years ago, we published a negative article. The irradiated meat soon disappeared from the Marsh store in the area where our article had been distributed. Some other Marsh stores continued to sell it for a while.       In fall of 2004 we called Marsh again to check on the status of the product. We were informed by Mike in the central Marsh meat department that irradiated meat was no longer being sold. The irradiated meat supplier, SureBeam, according to Mike, had gone into bankruptcy. A public relations spokesman for Marsh told us that--unlike its competitor, Kroger Supermarkets--Marsh doesn't have an independent testing lab. They rely instead on representations made to them by suppliers, such as SureBeam.        Marsh advertises their employees as "Experts in Fresh."        Based on what we've been told by some of those same Marsh employees, however, we're not sure that claim is justified.        We don't mean any disrespect to Marsh. We shop at Marsh stores frequently. Marsh employees are long-suffering individuals who must often deal with rudeness from members of the buying public. Sometimes Marsh stores are robbed. Marsh does a lot in Indianapolis to bolster the city's cultural level. Marsh is a great company.          So, in offering criticism, we are not meaning to imply that Marsh is substandard in comparison to other grocery chains. What we'd like to see is for the standard to be raised.         The work that we've done on biochemical orthodoxy and heterogeneity has many, many applications having to do with food. Our work could help Marsh avoid problems such as those they had with irradiated meat. It could give them a technical edge not possessed by competitors such as Kroger. It could help them to quickly evaluate the claims of suppliers and avoid other problems like SureBeam. It could help them develop new products. If our friends at Marsh were to sponsor a seminar on orthodoxy/heterogeneity, perhaps they could help both themselves and the US government. We'd be happy to organize such a seminar.           In fact we've already approached both Marsh and its competitor, Kroger, on this matter.                                                Continue