U.S. OKs Irradiation to Purify Meat

At a time when Americans are increasingly anxious about the safety of the food they eat, the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved the controversial practice of irradiation for fresh and frozen meats to kill dangerous bacteria, such as deadly E. coli.

Studies show that the practice of using radiation to destroy food-borne microorganisms is safe and does not change the food or cause it to become radioactive or less nutritious, the agency said.

“We feel comfortable that this is an acceptable technique and are convinced the process is safe,” said Dr. Michael A. Friedman, lead deputy FDA commissioner.

He cautioned, however, that consumers who buy irradiated food should not be lulled “into a false sense of confidence that they do not have to pay particular attention to storage and cooking.”

“If you treat food improperly, it can still become dangerous,” he warned.

Also, it is not clear how quickly the food industry will move to implement irradiation. The practice already is approved for poultry, pork, fruits, vegetables and spices, but it is rarely used because the concept makes many consumers nervous. In most cases, foods treated with irradiation must be labeled.

“It does seem to make consumers uneasy, but probably for the wrong reasons,” said Michael Jacobson, director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington. “It’s probably safe for consumers, but it should be a last resort. Ideally, the industry should clean up the process from farm to supermarket. Consumers don’t want sterilized filth on their food; they want clean food.”

The FDA decision was welcomed by an industry that has been seriously damaged in recent years by outbreaks that have sickened many and caused several deaths.

“Food irradiation is a safe, simple and relatively inexpensive process which has been available since the 1950s to kill harmful pathogens in many foods and to enhance their shelf life,” said John R. Cady, president of the National Food Processors Assn.

Similarly, C. Manly Molpus, president of the Grocery Manufacturers of America, called the decision “good news for consumers.” He added: “Attention now should be turned to helping consumers understand the benefits of irradiation for themselves and their families.”

The process involves subjecting foods to radiation either from radioactive or machine sources, which kills insects, bacteria and parasites. It does not change the taste, appearance or texture of the treated food, the FDA said.

The approval came in response to a petition filed in 1994 by Isomedix Inc., a New Jersey medical sterilization company seeking to offer meat processors irradiation with cobalt-60 gamma rays. That is but one of several ways to conduct irradiation.

The process has been generally endorsed by the United Nations’ World Health Organization, the American Medical Assn., the American Dietetic Assn. and many leading epidemiologists.

Still, spokesmen for the California beef and poultry industries played down the decision’s significance, noting that it will take time for shoppers to embrace irradiated foods.

Although at least a dozen irradiated foods--including strawberries, oranges, tomatoes, onions, mushrooms and poultry--are being sold in the Midwest and Florida, these items have yet to find a market in California.

“Basically, the consumer won’t accept the product,” said Bill Mattos, president of the California Poultry Industry Federation in Stockton. In recent focus groups, he said, only two of the dozens of people questioned indicated that irradiation “might” be OK.

With the red-meat industry, however, high-profile outbreaks of E. coli illness associated with undercooked hamburgers could spur greater acceptance of irradiation, scientists said.

Most recently, several cases of intestinal ailments in Colorado led to last summer’s recall of 25 million pounds of frozen hamburger patties produced in Nebraska by Hudson Foods. That outbreak was traced to Escherichia coli O157:H7, a virulent mutation of a common bacterium that has been identified only since the early 1980s.

This dangerous strain can live in the intestines of cattle and be spread by runoff into lakes or through the use of manure as fertilizer. Thus, meat is not the only source of the pathogen. Increasingly, it is being found in such seemingly benign products as lettuce and apple juice.

Bruce Berven, executive director of the California Beef Council, said the step provides “another tool to maintain a safe food supply but is not the final safeguard.” As of now, he added, there aren’t enough commercial irradiation facilities to serve the huge industry. And consumer skepticism could make companies reluctant to invest in the technology.

“I’m hoping some food companies . . . will have the courage to use it and test the market,” said Linda Harris, a food microbiologist at UC Davis.

James Dickson, a food safety microbiologist at Iowa State University in Ames, said the technology would probably add 3 to 6 cents a pound to the cost of ground beef--”not an undue burden.” But he expects irradiation to be used initially in commercial food service for hospitals and day care centers.

Opponents expressed numerous concerns, saying the process has been inadequately studied and questioning whether it could pose risks to food processing workers or the environment.

Michael Colby, director of Food & Water Inc., a national food safety organization based in Walden, Vt., and one of the country’s most vocal opponents of irradiation, called instead for an approach that addresses the causes of food contamination.

“By embracing a gimmick, we’re saying to industry that their filth is acceptable because we’re going to zap it at the end of the line,” he said.

He also accused the FDA of acting “from politics, rather than science,” because Congress, in legislation enacted this year, ordered the agency to make a decision within 60 days on the Isomedix petition.

Congressional action also changed labeling requirements for all foods treated with irradiation so that the words need be no larger than those for the ingredients.

The FDA’s Friedman insisted the decision was science-based, saying, “We were not prepared to act” until all safety and scientific questions had been answered.

He also said modern eating habits, food production practices and the evolution of new and more lethal strains of bacteria warrant additional protections.

“Foods are produced differently and more foods are imported into the United States,” he said. “People are using prepared foods more and eating outside the home. People are more susceptible to food-borne illness and the actual bacteria have changed--they are more resistant, more virulent. This was not common years ago.”

Cimons reported from Washington, Groves from Los Angeles.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Food That’s Really Rad?

Here are some radiation doses for food approved by the Food and Drug Administration. A rad is a measurement of the ionizing radiation absorbed by a substance.

For comparison, a typical chest X-ray dosage is about 20 millirad. One rad equals 1,000 millirad.

* Fresh meat, ground or cuts: 450,000 rad

* Frozen meat: 700,000 rad

* Organ meat, such as liver: 450,000 rad

* Poultry: 300,000 rad

* Spices: 3 million rad

* Fresh fruits and vegetables: 100,000 rad

Source: Associated Press