Irradiated Beef Faces Slow Rollout to Consumers----will it sell? Lets see

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<<  April 3 6:53 PM ET 
 Irradiated Beef Faces Slow Rollout to Consumers
 This story is found at:
 http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000403/sc/food_meat_1.html
 By Carey Gillam
 
 KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Reuters) - Fearful of a negative public backlash, food 
companies and retailers are moving slowly to introduce irradiated ground beef 
products to store shelves, despite government approval granted in February, 
industry executives said on Monday.
 
 While public opinion polls show that consumers are eager for safer meat 
products, there are a host of fears to overcome when it comes to the benefits 
of irradiation techniques, a group of industry players told Reuters at the 
2000 Meat Marketing Conference held in Kansas City.
 
 ``There is a highly charged atmosphere around this issue,'' said Pete Ellis, 
chief executive of Food Technology Service Inc., a Florida-based irradiation 
company for the food market. ''Everybody will tell you they are interested in 
doing this, but they don't want to be first, they want to be a fast second.''
 
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  Irradiation techniques, which beam varying levels of radiation through food 
to kill illness-causing bacteria, can vastly reduce the number of people who 
suffer sickness or even death after eating meat tainted with E.coli, listeria 
and salmonella, proponents say.
 
 About 5,000 people die annually from eating contaminated foods, so 
irradiation should be readily embraced, they say.
 
 Instead, the proponents say, large food companies and government health 
officials are dragging their feet in rolling out marketing and consumer 
education programs necessary to advance irradiated meat into the marketplace. 
Fear of inciting public opposition such as has been seen with protests 
against genetically modified food products are a factor.
 
 ``It's frustrating,'' said Ellis. ``Everybody needs to be proactive, but 
it's not happening.''
 
 One notable exception is Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE:WMT - news), which plans 
to test-market irradiated ground beef in its stores to determine consumer 
demand and the premium they would pay.
 
 Wal-Mart executives announced the move in late February, and most retailers 
are content to let Wal-Mart lead the way, said Clemens Markets meat 
merchandising manager Al Kober. Clemens operates a chain of Pennsylvania 
retail outlets.
 
 ``We're waiting to see the response they (Wal-Mart) get from consumers,'' 
Kober said.
 
 On the processing front, Colorado Boxed Beef Co. developed an assortment of 
introductory irradiated beef products that it plans to roll out in limited 
areas in Florida this month.
 
 In addition to questions about consumer willingness to absorb added costs -- 
about 3 to 8 cents per pound with irradiation, according to industry 
estimates -- those marketing meat to consumers must overcome vague fears that 
radiation may be harmful when the meat is eaten, said the industry leaders.
 
 Required labeling declaring the meat to have undergone radiation is not 
considered helpful in dispelling consumer fears, and needs active promotion 
before consumers will see the new label as a food safety sign, the industry 
players said.
 
 Still, with an increasing consumer outcry for safer food products, 
irradiated beef will likely make up at least 15 percent of the ground beef 
market within three years, the industry group projected.
 
 ``The (irradiation) process takes care of all major pathogens responsible 
for food safety problems,'' said Joseph Borsa, product manager for 
Canada-based MDS Nordion, an international radiation technology company with 
a majority stake in Food Technology Service. ``This is a premium product.''  
>>
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