Re: Food Irradiation

[denison.8@postbox.acs.ohio-state.edu (Eric Denison)]

I'm all in favor of continued investigation of and expanded use of food
irradiation, but I wonder if there's a simpler solution.  Couldn't folks
just COOK the blasted burgers?  During my time in a clinical lab, I don't
recall meeting up with any e. coli varieties that could handle more than a
few seconds at stove-top temperatures.  Are the new strains that much
tougher, or are we seeing a new paranoia in action?  Reminds me a bit of the
"any radiation is too much" crap we keep seeing.

>     Dan Harlan writes:
>     I would like to expand on this question:
>     What dose would be required to destroy E. coli in beef?  What type of 
>     irradiation would you use: Co-60?  What would be a practical activity 
>     and irradiation time to kill E. coli in a meat production facility?
>     What changes could you expect in the beaf after processing: taste, 
>     nutritional value, appearance, storage requirements...
>
>Not surprisingly, as a microbiologist (and from Arkansas yet), I'm 
>feeling a real need to learn more about the practical aspects of meat 
>irradiation.  I encourage anyone with knowledge to post on this 
>topic, and I'd be curious to know if there is any kind of recent literature 
>available on this  topic.  The first two questions above got 
>answered, but I'd also like to see comments on the rest of Dan's 
>questions.
>David F. Gilmore
>Assistant Professor of Environmental Biology    0  0 
>P.O. Box 599, Dept. of Biological Sciences       __    "have a day" 
>Arkansas State University 
>State University, AR 72467
>dgilmore@navajo.astate.edu
>ph  501-972-3082    fax 501-972-2638
>
>
Eric Denison
denison.8@osu.edu