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Re: Irradiated Beef at Dairy Queen



Hi Erik:

I'm a bit confused by the statement in your email below attributed to the Center 

for Science in the Public Interest offering some common sense regarding food 

irradiation vs. what is noted from a spokesperson for Public Citizen's Critical 

Mass Energy and Environment Program which I believe is another part of the same 

group. Is Critical Mass and CSPI offering contrary opinions depending upon who is 

talking??



Stewart Farber

==========

See [for Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program criticism 

of food irradiation trends]:

http://ens-news.com/ens/jun2003/2003-06-02-09.asp#anchor1



Irradiated Beef Okay for National School Lunch Program



WASHINGTON, DC, June 2, 2003 (ENS) - The U.S. Department of Agriculture lifted

its ban on irradiated ground beef in the national school program last week, a

move that drew sharp criticism from some public health groups who do not believe

safety concerns have been addressed. The USDA's decision means that school

districts will be allowed to purchase irradiated meat starting in January 2004.



USDA officials say they were forced to issue the ruling because the 2002 Farm

Bill directs the agency not to prohibit the use of approved safety technologies

on foods purchased for the National School Lunch Program, which feeds some 27

million children each year.



The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved irradiation of raw meat and

poultry products in 1997, concluding that the process is a safe way to reduce

disease causing microbes, including salmonella and E. coli.



"Each school district will have the option to choose between irradiated and non-

irradiated ground beef products and will decide how to notify parents and

students if they choose to offer them," said Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition

and Consumer Services Eric Bost.



"While USDA does not have the authority to require that schools inform parents

and students about whether or not the district will be ordering irradiated beef,

USDA is strongly encouraging schools to provide information to students,

teachers, food service personnel, school administrators, parents and caregivers

as part of the decision-making process," Bost said.



Critics worry that the possible health risks to humans from irradiated meat are

not well known and say that the federal government received thousands of comments

opposing allowing irradiated beef to be distributed through the National School

Lunch Program.



"This horrendous decision benefits the meat industry at the expense of society's

most vulnerable citizens - our children," said Wenonah Hauter, director of Public

Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program. "Approving irradiated

meat for school cafeterias nationwide means the USDA is willing to put our

children's health at risk to help cover up the meat industry's sanitation

failures."



Hauter says the decision could turn USDA into the "largest distributor of

irradiated food in the world."



It is lower income children who are most likely to be eating the irradiated food,

says Hauter, who calls the decision "an error in moral judgment."



* * *





====================

ORIGINAL MESSAGE

6/3/03 4:31:18 PM, "Nielsen, Erik" <NielseEC@NV.DOE.GOV> wrote:



>Irradiated beef gains acceptance.

>

>http://www.healthy.net/asp/templates/news.asp?Id=7084

>

>"Perhaps the future of irradiated beef can best be predicted by where it is

>not meeting resistance. The Center for Science in the Public Interest has

>campaigned heavily in the past against much in the mainstream American diet

>-- attacking milk, cheeseburgers and Chinese food for the damage they can do

>to the body.But the group doesn't oppose the irradiating of beef, insisting

>only on clear labeling. "Right now, for ground beef, it's one of the better

>technologies available to eliminate E. coli," said Caroline Smith DeWall,

>the group's director of food safety. "It's a consumer choice." "

>

>Erik C. Nielsen

>







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