Sanidie , News from Chicago Tribune: Two articles Here they come
IRRADIATED BEEF APPROVED BY FDA
Associated Press
Web-posted Wednesday, December 3, 1997; 6:07 a.m. CST
Dateline: WASHINGTON
Searching for ways to ease food safety fears, the meat industry won approval Tuesday to zap beef with gamma rays to kill E. coli and other harmful bacteria. Some consumers were wary.
"It's just the word -- 'radiation.' I'm not sure it's safe," said Lucy Geller, 45, who was shopping at a suburban Maryland grocery store. "It would take me a while to be comfortable with it."
The Food and Drug Administration approved use of irradiation in low dosages on beef and other red meats such as lamb, and changed the dosage levels for pork, which could already be treated with gamma rays for certain disease-causing organisms.
FDA declared that the process does not make the meat radioactive and doesn't trigger other changes affecting the taste, wholesomeness or nutritional content. It kills most -- but not all -- bacteria such as E. coli and salmonella in food.
"We think it is safe and we think it is appropriate," said Dr. Michael Friedman, the acting FDA commissioner. "But the consumer should not believe that he or she does not have to use good cooking and handling techniques."
Irradiation has been available for years for poultry, pork, spices and some fresh produce, but interest in the process for beef intensified after this summer's recall of 25 million pounds of Hudson Food Co. hamburger that may have been tainted with E. coli.
OBSTACLES REMAIN, DESPITE FDA APPROVAL
By Jon Van, Tribune Staff Writer
Web-posted Wednesday, December 3, 1997; 6:01 a.m. CST
The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday gave meat processors permission to use nuclear radiation on beef, but don't look for irradiated beef in your grocer's meat cooler any time soon.
The FDA has been considering the issue for three years, and action came after the Clinton administration and Congress felt increased public pressure to ensure the purity of the nation's meat supply in the wake of this summer's recall of 25 million pounds of beef from Hudson Foods Inc.
The industry still has several hurdles to clear before it uses cobalt, cesium or linear accelerators to zap beef to kill contaminants, industry experts said.
"Getting FDA approval is a positive step, but now the Department of Agriculture must adopt regulations to use irradiation at the plant level," said Bryan Salvage, an executive with the Chicago-based Marketing & Technology Group Inc., which publishes three meat industry magazines.
"I hope the USDA doesn't take three years to establish its guidelines," he said. "Also lacking is the technology right now to irradiate beef in existing plants. There are questions whether its possible to irradiate meat at the line speeds the beef industry has established."
Even though the FDA approved the treatment for pork in 1986 and for poultry in 1990, finding irradiated chickens and pork chops in supermarkets is next to impossible.
Irradiation, however, is common in a variety of non-food products. Tampons, cosmetics, adhesive bandages and contact lens cleaning solutions often are treated with radiation to kill all microbial contamination.
Although irradiation's power to sterilize is unquestioned, consumer apprehension over its application on foods has kept the technology mostly in the background in the three decades since the FDA first approved its use to treat wheat and wheat flour.
As public concern over meat safety has grown, some large processors, led by Minneapolis-based Cargill Inc., have developed a steam pasteurization treatment to kill bacteria on beef carcasses.
Another sterilization treatment using ozone, a highly reactive form of oxygen, is being promoted by the nation's electric utilities, which appreciate the fact that ozone is produced by applying electrical current to regular oxygen.
Advocates of such sterilization technologies argue that they are easier to incorporate into traditional meat processing practices than irradiation, are cheaper and don't promote consumer uneasiness.
The major pending question, say meat experts, is how consumer resistance to irradiation will play against their fears of eating contaminated meat.
"The industry has come a long way in turning around consumer attitudes," Salvage said. "They've proven that educated consumers would be willing to buy irradiated beef. But you can bet your boots the opposition will be more vocal than ever on this issue."
Radiation's primary allure is as a so-called "kill step" that can be applied after beef is completely processed. That is especially appealing now that federal guidelines have zero tolerance for microbial contamination of hamburger.
"Steam and ozone are fine, but if you want to guarantee you have zero contamination to meet government guidelines, nothing beats irradiation," said Richard Lechowich, director of the National Center for Food Safety and Technology at the Illinois Institute of Technology.
"One reason you don't see much irradiation of pork and poultry is that people don't typically eat them rare," Lechowich said.
"The idea of rare poultry or pork isn't appealing, so any pathogens in them get cooked out. But many people, including myself, like rare beef.
"Another thing to consider is that the government doesn't have a zero tolerance policy on bacteria in pork and poultry, but it does have one for hamburger. Irradiation is the one thing we have that can meet a zero tolerance standard."
Investors expressed their enthusiasm for irradiation by bidding up the stock prices of companies providing irradiation services. Sterigenics International Inc., Food Technology Service Inc. and Steris Corp. all rose Tuesday in active trading.
Regards
Sri. |
