Zap, there goes appetite
CURT ANDERSON
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
GURNEE, Ill. - Behind 6-foot-thick concrete walls, slender rods of cobalt-60 cast a bluish glow in a deep underground pool of water, awaiting another batch of medical equipment to sterilize.
The boxes of scalpel blades and sutures rattle into the room in big metal crates hung from tracks in the ceiling. The cobalt-60 rises from its 23-foot depth, emitting gamma rays that silently destroy bacteria.
This plant north of Chicago, run by SteriGenics International Inc., is one of about 50 in the United States using gamma rays or electron beams to decontaminate health care equipment, cosmetic ingredients, spices and some foods.
Now, SteriGenics and other companies want to zap the beef, pork and chicken that wind up on millions of American dinner tables. But although the federal government's December approval of
irradiation in red meat was touted as technology's best weapon against
dangerous microbes such as E. coli and salmonella, it appears unlikely
the process will be used widely in this country anytime soon, if ever.
"I think it's about 50-50," said Dr. Richard Louria, chairman of the Department of Preventative Medicine at the New Jersey School of
Medicine. "Could you potentially save 1,000 or 2,000 deaths? I think
you could. But the opponents could persuade people that nuking your
food is bad."
At a recent meat industry conference in suburban Chicago, the
numerous barriers facing meat companies were apparent. No major
meat company has public plans to take the leap, partly out of fear of
consumer backlash and protests by anti-nuclear groups.
For similar reasons, irradiation never took off for poultry, which has quietly had approval since 1992. "They're all waiting to be the best No. 2," said Al Kober, merchandising manager of Clemens Markets, a Pennsylvania grocery chain. "One of the big packers has got to step to the plate. They would set the stage for the rest."
The meat industry is searching for improved safety after last summer's recall of 25 million pounds of ground beef suspected of E. coli contamination.
"There's a resounding demand out there that the food industry clean up its act," said Sheila Courington of the Wirthlin Worldwide polling group.
The federal Food and Drug Administration and numerous other researchers have found no evidence irradiation causes toxic changes or radioactive residue in meat or poultry. However, the process can cause odor and color changes in meat - pork, for instance, can turn bright red - although controlling temperature and levels of oxygen can reduce those changes.
Meat is also a prime source of the vitamin thiamin, which is highly sensitive to irradiation. Researchers have documented losses of vitamins A, C, E and B in some irradiated foods, but supporters say a person eating a well-rounded diet would still get enough.
Labeling and marketing problems also remain. FDA rules require all irradiated foods to be clearly noted as such and to include the green international radura symbol.
"There are things inherent just in the word 'irradiation' that scare people," Courington said.
This article shows clearly that the Meat industry is clearly playing the waiting game and guts tell me that a good sanitizing wash would be the way they will go once a couple of big guys test it. Of course there will be competition and other complimenting technologies that will follow this. The Best will survive and thrive.
Regards,
Sri. |
