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Microcap & Penny Stocks : THE OZONE COMPANY! (OZON) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Starduster who wrote (1693)	12/3/1997 11:12:00 AM
From: Aishwarya	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4356

Sandie, The rats were freed yesterday. Now the cat is also out of the bag. Here is an article from Washington post: FDA Approves Irradiation Of Meat for Killing Germs Some Oppose Technology Despite Growing Use By John Schwartz Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, December 3, 1997; Page A03 The Washington Post The Food and Drug Administration yesterday approved the irradiation of meat to kill disease-causing microorganisms, a move designed to improve the safety of the nation's food supply. The technology is generally considered safe and highly effective against food-borne pathogens, but its widespread use in foods has not caught on -- in no small part because of public fears about radiation. The FDA studied irradiation for three years before issuing yesterday's approval and concluded that the method kills most pathogens but is safe for consumers, according to Michael A. Friedman, the lead deputy commissioner for the agency. It does not make the meat radioactive and in fact "affects the meat itself very little," he said. The food industry, which prefers such euphemisms as "cold pasteurization" to irradiation, hailed the FDA move. John R. Cady of the National Food Processors Association called it "another strong step forward for the safety of the U.S. food supply." Meat is the latest in a long line of products that the federal government has approved for sterilization by radiation. About half of all disposable medical devices go through the process, along with nipples for baby bottles, wine corks and cartons for juice and milk. Since 1963, producers of wheat and wheat flour have been allowed to use irradiation, and since then the process has also been approved for spices, pork, fruits and vegetables and poultry. Irradiation is widely accepted in the scientific and public health community, having been endorsed by the American Medical Association, World Health Organization and other leading groups. Some activists continue to oppose the technology, however, mostly on issues of worker safety and transportation of radioactive materials. Food safety activist Michael Colby, who has long fought irradiation through his organization, Food & Water, said consumers would remain wary. "It's one thing for the government to approve it," Colby said in a statement, but "it's quite another for the public to buy it." In fact, few chicken processing plants employ the technology. Acceptance is growing, however: A survey from the Food Marketing Institute showed that 60 percent of consumers would buy irradiated foods for safety reasons, up from 36 percent in 1994. Other food safety activists warned that irradiation is no food safety panacea, and that more should be done to ensure proper handling throughout the production process. "Consumers prefer to have no filth on meat than to have filth sterilized by irradiation," said Michael Jacobson, head of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Friedman warned that irradiation only kills the germs present on meat at the time the process takes place and cannot prevent later contamination. That means consumers must take the same care with refrigerating and cooking meat that they always have, he said: "They will get sick if they are not very attentive to how they prepare it in the home." The levels of radiation approved yesterday by the FDA do not kill hepatitis and a handful of other unusually hearty pathogens, but have proved extremely effective against salmonella and E. coli 0157:H7, the bacteria linked to a 1993 outbreak that killed four children and sickened hundreds of others. That tragedy spurred officials at Isomedix Inc. of Whippany, N.J., to petition the FDA for permission to irradiate red meat. Isomedix exposes products to gamma rays emanating from rods containing radioactive cobalt 60. At the company's plant in Chester, N.Y., for example, products are loaded into aluminum "totes" in a heavily shielded room; machinery then raises the rods out of a radiation-absorbing pool of water for a set time. Other irradiation systems fire a beam of electrons over the products, which could be safer for workers but sterilizes meat only to a depth of three inches. Irradiation does have some minor effects. Meats that are high in fat can develop a rancid smell under some circumstances, although Grace Masefield of Isomedix said that the process used by her company in tests has not produced that result. Friedman of the FDA stressed that irradiation will be only a part of an across-the-board Clinton administration effort to fight food poisoning. "It is a very useful component of the food safety system, but it should not be viewed as a perfect solution," he said. Staff writer Carole Sugarman contributed to this report. Regards Sri.