I would not be concerned at all, consuming food that had been irradiated for a very short period of time. However...

How is the radiation created? How do you keep the materials that create the radiation from getting into the food? How do you keep surrounding materials that are continuously bombarded from getting in the food?

When someone drops my burger and serves it to me anyway, I assume I will survive. When a chip of irradiated glass, including cobalt, gets into my canned spinach, then all bets are off?

I'm not claiming this is a problem. These are just the first questions I would ask.

I would expect that most of the unlucky 4,000 probably die because somebody let the leftovers sit for too long on the counter, or because the fast food night crew left stuff that needed refridgeration out over night. I don't think irradiation would be of benefit in these cases.

The only reason that business pushes irradiation so hard is because it saves money. The only way it can save money is if it is used to replace more costly methods of food preservation.

Compare the "loud group of Luddites"' views with the resistance that the right shows towards decreasing allowable amounts of arsenic in our water supply. Doing that would cost business (and municipalities) money, rather than save. On the one hand, irradiation might save lives (proven?) - but would save money. On the other hand, reducing arsenic in water would save lives (proven!) - but would cost money.

I see a trend developing.