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Another irradiation article ... this one from the Akron BeaconJournal



BEEF IN A NEW LIGHT

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Meat option going to market
Starting today, anti-bacterial process called irradiation can be used by packers. Initiative has Northeast Ohio ties
BY CHERYL POWELL 
Beacon Journal medical writer 


Some see it as a real ray of hope for a safer U.S. meat supply.

Others see it as zapping meat with unsafe nuclear rays.

Soon food shoppers will face a choice: Should they pick the package of red meat that looks like it always has? Or should they choose the one bearing a symbol that tells them the meat has been treated through a process known as irradiation?

More than five years after the federal government began considering whether to allow red meat products to be treated with a dose of radiation to kill potentially dangerous bacteria such as E. coli, meatpackers have been given the go-ahead to start using the process today. The initiative has direct ties to Northeast Ohio.

Isomedix Services, now a wholly owned subsidiary of Steris Corp. of Mentor, petitioned the Food and Drug Administration in 1994 to allow red meat irradiation. FDA approval came in 1997, but the process still needed the U.S. Department of Agriculture's blessing. USDA signed off in December, setting today as the day red meat irradiation could begin.

Training gamma rays, X-rays or an electron beam on red meat can kill bacteria such as campylobacter and salmonella, in addition to E. coli.

``It has the potential to have a very positive effect,'' said Daniel Engeljohn, director of the USDA's regulations division. ``What this does is it provides an additional margin of safety.''

Treated food must bear the international symbol for irradiation and the words ``treated with irradiation'' or ``treated by radiation.''

But restaurants and institutions that use irradiated foods aren't required to tell the people who eat it, Engeljohn said.


Expensive process
Irradiation isn't new.
The federal government has allowed irradiation to curb insects and microorganisms in spices since 1963.

Fruits, vegetables, pork and chicken also can be irradiated -- but that doesn't mean it's being done.

Of the 27 billion pounds of chicken processed annually, little is irradiated, said Richard Lobb, spokesman for the National Chicken Council, a national trade group.

For now, cost is a major factor.

Food irradiation systems like the ones Steris operate cost an estimated $6 million to $8 million each. And because there are only about 50 U.S. centers where irradiation is done, shipping is an issue.

``The companies are always looking for ways to improve their products and they are very happy with the results they are getting using other methods,'' Lobb said.

That could change.

Several meatpackers are poised to begin supplying irradiated products in test markets, said Janet Riley, spokeswoman for the American Meat Institute, a trade group in Arlington, Va. The irradiated meat probably will cost 2 to 6 cents more per pound.

The federal government also is reviewing petitions from meatpackers to use radiation on processed meats, such as hot dogs and lunch meats.

Irradiation can change the taste and appearance of foods, but ``there is absolutely no distinguishable difference'' if it's done right, said Harley Everett, executive vice president of Food Technology Service, which operates a food irradiator in Florida.

``We think it's going to be an important choice for the industry and consumers,'' Riley said.


Sales start soon
Meat-processing giant Excel Corp. of Wichita, Kan., plans to begin selling irradiated ground beef patties in the next few months, company spokesman Mark Klein said.
Klein cited industry research, which has shown that as many as 80 percent of consumers are willing to buy irradiated food after receiving education about it.

But Wenonah Hauter, director of Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy Project, a nonprofit group that tracks energy and environmental issues, cautioned against ad campaigns that likely will refer to irradiation as ``cold pasteurization.''

``Irradiation is absolutely not pasteurization,'' said Hauter, whose group has been an outspoken opponent to using radiation on food.

It remains to be seen, however, when irradiated red meat will be available locally.

Although Fred W. Albrecht Grocery Co. of Akron doesn't have plans to start selling irradiated meat in its Acme grocery stores, it has not dismissed the idea.

``At this time, I don't think anybody is demanding that we use irradiated meat,'' said Bill Hemperly, director of meat operations.


Divisive issue
Irradiation has some biases to overcome.
Critics say irradiation robs foods of nutrients. But the USDA insists no more vitamins are lost than through normal cooking.

During irradiation, food is exposed for a short time to the rays, which most often are generated from a radioactive source such as cobalt-60. 

But the food doesn't become radioactive, said Engeljohn of the USDA.

Opponents also quote studies that found animals fed irradiated foods have increased tumors and kidney damage.

``If you eat an irradiated hamburger, you're not going to keel over and fall dead,'' said Ronnie Cummins, director of the BioDemocracy campaign for the Organic Consumers Association, a nonprofit group that opposes food irradiation.

``But what about your kid eating this stuff year after year after year? Is that a good thing? I don't think so. They really don't know exactly what bombarding food with 10,000 chest X-rays actually does.''

Engeljohn compared the accusations to the scare tactics initially used against milk pasteurization.

``The best tests that we have to measure safety would show there are no safety concerns,'' he said.

The process also has its share of influential supporters, including the World Health Organization. And the American Medical Association has called food irradiation ``a safe and effective process that increases the safety of food.''

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated food-borne diseases cause about 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths in the United States annually.


Not a total solution
Irradiation opponents say the public would be better served if the meat processing industry cleaned up its act. Even some supporters agree it's not the total solution.
``Our company is very concerned about the misperception that irradiation is going to be a magic bullet. It's not,'' said Bill R. Sanford, chairman, president and chief executive of Steris, which has 15 irradiation centers. The company mostly uses the technique on medical equipment.

Steris is promoting irradiation as just one part of an entire process to improve food safety.

In the past year, the company began marketing its consulting services and a variety of pathogen-killing products to the food and agricultural industries. Many are concepts adopted directly from Steris' services to the health-care and pharmaceutical industries.

``I think anything that can be done to improve what is already a good and safe food supply is important,'' Sanford said.



                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
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