WASHINGTON, Dec 1 (Reuters) - The Food and Drug Administration is expected to
approve the use of irradiation by meat packing firms, following the record
U.S. recall of 25 million pounds of hamburger and a rash of meat-borne
illnesses, food industry sources said on Monday.
The FDA, which has studied the germ-killing process for three years at the
request of the meat and food industry, has been under pressure from the
Clinton administration in recent months to find better ways to protect the
U.S. food supply.
''It is our anticipation that irradiation is probably going to be approved by
the FDA on Tuesday,'' an official with one U.S. industry group told Reuters.
''We're very pleased that the decision is finally coming.''
Another industry source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the U.S.
Agriculture Department and the FDA would ask for public comments on the
agencies' proposal to set regulations for use of the controversial procedure
by manufacturers.
A spokesman for the FDA was not immediately available for comment.
The FDA already allows irradiation of poultry, fruits, vegetables and spices.
The procedure has long been used by nursing homes, hospitals and even NASA to
protect patients and astronauts from any dangerous food-borne illnesses.
The World Health Organization and the American Medical Association have also
expressed support for irradiation.
But some consumer groups have vigorously opposed irradiation, claiming that
not enough scientific evidence has been compiled to show that routine use of
the procedure is completely safe.
''Irradiation would still leave fecal matter on the beef. That's not what
consumers want,'' Michael Jacobson of the Center for Science in the Public
Interest said recently. ''We've got to clean up the food supply from farm to
table and not just focus on one thing to do it.''
Irradiation can affect the flavor and destroys some of the B vitamins in
food, he said.
Supporters liken irradiation to pasteurization of milk, and claim that it
could have prevented the record 25-million pound recall of frozen hamburger
patties by Hudson Foods Inc. in August. The meat was suspected of being
contaminated with a deadly form of the E. coli virus, and some 17 consumers
in Colorado were sickened by the patties.
Another firm, BeefAmerica, recalled more than 500,000 pounds of ground beef
in October because of E. coli contamination. And South Korea briefly halted
imports of some U.S. beef after finding what it said was a tainted meat
shipment.
Isomedix Inc., a New Jersey-based medical supply company, petitioned the FDA
in 1994 for permission to sell irradiation equipment to meat packing firms.
The Clinton administration recently began pressing Congress for a law giving
the FDA authority to halt fruit and vegetable imports from any country whose
safety standards are not equal to those of the United States. The
administration also wants to toughen meat safety and inspection laws.
REUTERS
20:58 12-01-97 |
