FL red meat irradiation Co. is VIFL. Isomedix Inc., now a wholly owned subsidiary of Steris (STRL), was the original petitioner to the FDA. AP brief and longish Steris press release follow.
My timing really sucked on that one (STRL). Took a small end of year tax loss at $46, the absolute bottom prior to the run to $61:( (Of course, that was before I found the 56ers!) Haven't been following STRL much lately but I thought they had very strong fundies, near monopolistic position in medical, strong in food (red meat is the last to come to the party), and the new FDA approval. The IRS and the press late last year about the market just not being ready to accept irradiated hamburger convinced me to sell. Amazing how many folks think irradiated food must be carcinogenic yet are completely oblivious to how much they already eat!
AP Online, Tuesday, December 02, 1997 at 18:25
NEW YORK (AP) - Some of the stocks that moved substantially or
traded heavily Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq Stock
Market, and American Stock Exchange.
Food Technology Services (Mulberry, FL) (NASDAQ:VIFL), up 6 1/2 at 11 11/16
Steris (STRL) (Mentor, OH) (NASDAQ:STRL), up 1 7/16 at 49 7/16
Sterigenics International (Fremont, CA( (NASDAQ:STER), up 3 3/16 at 21 15/16
The Food and Drug Administration approved use of irradiation to
kill harmful bacteria such as E. coli in meat. All three companies
have develop systems using irradiation for food-processing safety.
STERIS Comments on FDA Approval of Red Meat Irradiation to Increase Food Safety
PR Newswire, Tuesday, December 02, 1997 at 17:37
MENTOR, Ohio, Dec. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- STERIS Corporation (NASDAQ:STRL) and Isomedix Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of STERIS, commented on the approval today by the United States Food & Drug Administration (FDA) of Isomedix's petition for the irradiation ("cold pasteurization") of red meat to help protect consumers from food borne disease and extend fresh shelf life by significantly reducing bacterial contamination. The 1,300 page Isomedix Meat Petition was prepared and submitted to the FDA in 1994 in response to
unnecessary deaths and illnesses arising out of contamination of ground meat with E.coli 0157:H7.
John Masefield, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Isomedix, and the principal author of the Meat Petition, stated, "I am gratified by FDA's approval of irradiation of red meat. The petition that Isomedix submitted to FDA over three years ago was a very comprehensive review and analysis of all pertinent research from published papers regarding the safety and need for approval of the irradiation process. There is no doubt that cold pasteurization through irradiation from isotope (gamma) or machine (electron-beam) sources is effective and extremely safe. It is estimated that in the USA alone, harmful microbial pathogens in food are responsible for as many as 9,000 deaths and 200-250 million illnesses a year. Our Company is pleased that irradiation can now be added to the myriad of other microbial reduction technologies, systems, products, and services available from STERIS to improve the overall safety of our global food supply."
The cold pasteurization process involves exposing prepackaged uncooked red meat products to ionizing electromagnetic energy (similar to light but a much higher frequency) which destroys harmful bacteria without compromising quality and taste of the product and without raising its temperature. The World Health Organization stated in its press release of September 19, 1997, "...the objective of processing with ionizing radiation is to destroy pathogenic
and spoilage microorganisms without compromising safety, nutrition, and sensory quality."
Dr. Michael Osterholm, State Epidemiologist in Minnesota, recently stated, "There is one major step we, as a society, can take toward producing safer food. The answer is irradiation. It is the critical missing piece in reducing the risk of illness..."
The approval of the irradiation process by FDA, which when followed by a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulation, provides the meat industry with another important technology in its overall program to assure that the American consumers have access to the safest possible food products.
Bill R. Sanford, STERIS Corporation's Chairman, President, and CEO, added, "STERIS has long recognized the needs and challenges associated with food safety. We believe our expertise and extensive anti-microbial capabilities in our Healthcare and Scientific Divisions, combined with the services of our Isomedix subsidiary, will be of great benefit to the food industry and consumers. STERIS plans to aggressively pursue business opportunities that have been expanded by today's FDA approval of irradiation of red meat. We
will offer a broad range of technologies, systems, products, and services to the food industry through the focus of our recently created Food Safety Group."
STERIS Corporation is a leading provider of infection prevention,
contamination prevention, microbial reduction, and surgical support systems, products, services, and technologies to healthcare, scientific, research, and industrial Customers throughout the world. The Company has over 4,000 Associates (employees) worldwide, including more than 1,200 direct sales, service, and field support personnel. Customer Support facilities are located in major global market centers with manufacturing operations in the United States, Canada, Germany, and Finland. Isomedix Inc., a wholly owned
subsidiary of STERIS, provides contract sterilization and microbial reduction services in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico, to manufacturers of pre-packaged products, including healthcare, food, and consumer products, through a network of 11 gamma facilities, 5 ethylene oxide facilities (4 of which are combined gamma/ethylene oxide), and an electron-beam facility.
This press release contains statements concerning certain trends and other forward-looking information affecting or relating to the Company and its industry that are intended to qualify for the protections afforded "forward looking statements" under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. There are numerous important factors, many of which are outside STERIS's control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements.
SOURCE STERIS Corporation
-0- 12/02/97
/CONTACT: Gerard J. Reis, Vice President Business and Professional Relations, of STERIS, 216-354-2600/ |
