The process has intimidated food companies and consumers for years, but that could change
by David R. Stone
After many years of research and development, irradiation may finally be on the verge of exploding onto the scene in the meat industry.
But rest assured, there won't be any actual explosions.
Proponents claim irradiation (gamma ray or electron beam) may be one of the safest ways to preserve meat, and add there is no danger of nuclear explosions or meltdowns in the processing plant. Nor is there a danger of radioactive meat.
Some industry executives hope they will soon be able to sell large quantities of irradiated poultry and pork, and eventually beef.
Positive developments in recent months-including favorable governmental action combined with growing public acceptance of irradiated products-are helping the cause. Not only are some consumers over their fears of irradiation, they are even willing to pay a premium price for irradiated products.
Moving forward
Here are some developments that have caused optimism among those lobbying for irradiation:
-- FDA has put a petition to allow irradiation as a "food additive" to kill pathogens such as E. coli 0157.H7, salmonella and listeria in beef and pork on the review fast-track.
-- Encouragement from USDA. Secretary Mike Espy has asked Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala to expedite the FDA review, which USDA must wait for.
-- Endorsement by public health experts, including statements from the American Gastroenterological Association Foundation, the American Veterinary Medical Association, and U.S. Public Health Service Director Philip R. Lee. He wrote in the Journal of the American Medical Association that food irradiation is as beneficial as pasteurization, canning and freezing. Last year, irradiation was commonly referred to as "electronic pasteurization" at AMI's annual convention.
-- Successful (though limited) test marketing of irradiated product categories, including poultry, fruit, vegetables and spices. Irradiation experiments are also being conducted on fresh beef.
-- Expansion among irradiation facilities in the United States.
Despite these favorable signs, significant stumbling blocks remain and could delay or prevent widespread use of irradiation, including:
-- Government regulations-FDA, USDA and Nuclear Regulatory Commission approval are all needed to build an irradiation facility.
-- What the investment in an irradiation facility means to the cost of the finished product.
-- Whether enough consumers will accept and buy irradiated products.
-- Unanswered questions about how irradiation affects meat. Researchers are studying possible off-flavors, off-odors and other quality issues.
-- Protests and negative publicity generated by anti-nuclear or consumer activist groups, which might deter some food companies from getting involved.
-- Some local and state governments have passed legislation that is more restrictive than federal legislation. New York, Maine, New Jersey, as well as the city of Cleveland have banned the sale of irradiated food.
Is irradiation safe?
Irradiation has been studied for nearly 50 years. The basic concept is to treat meat with enough radiation to eliminate harmful microbes, retarding spoilage and reducing the risk of food-borne illness.
"We are experiencing growing interest in our irradiators from around the world, including the United States," says Jim Cottee, senior market development specialist for Kanata, Ontario-based Nordion International Inc., which supplies cobalt 60 to companies that irradiate food and has helped build irradiation facilities.
Cottee points out that cobalt 60 itself is not explosive, and the irradiation facility (unlike a nuclear power plant) is not an active reactor. The cobalt simply gives off gamma rays steadily as it decays, and the rays (like X-rays or electron beams) simply pass through the meat. The rays do not make the meat radioactive.
When not in use, the rods of cobalt 60 are kept in a pool of water, which absorbs the radiation.
The irradiation room is surrounded by thick walls of concrete. The radiation dosage is determined by how long the product is in the presence of the cobalt.
Because gamma rays' ionizing power can penetrate through half a pallet of meat, it can take less than an hour for a large facility to turn around a truckload, including loading and unloading time, according to Cottee.
Other types of irradiation, such as X-rays and electron beams, have been tested. Development work continues at prototype electron beam facilities, but the penetration is not as great.
An electron beam system could sterilize individual hamburger patties, but not an entire box as gamma rays could, points out James Marsden, AMI's director of scientific and technical affairs.
He adds, however, that gaining public acceptance for irradiated food might be "an easier sell" if no radioactive isotopes were involved.
Since the food doesn't become radioactive regardless of which type of irradiation source is used, Marsden said he would like labeling standards that allow a term such as "electronic pasteurization" to more accurately reflect the process.
Gaining allies
Public fear of irradiation, coupled with the food industry's fear of possible consumer backlash to irradiated foods, stymied efforts during the 1980s to market irradiated products.
But attitudes might be changing. Fear of food poisoning may begin to outweigh fear of irradiation, especially as some influential doctors attest to irradiation's safety.
Irradiation has recently received an impressive set of endorsements from health officials who are battling E. coli 0157:H7 and other pathogens. Lee of the Public Health Service cites "an estimated 9,000 deaths" each year from food poisoning as a reason to use irradiation.
Likewise, a panel of experts convened by the Gastroenterological Foundation-doctors who deal with intestinal illness-praised irradiation as an important hurdle that can help keep E. coli from spreading, particularly when combined with a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point program.
Endorsements are important. An AMI-commissioned Gallup Organization survey conducted in 1993 showed that after the benefits of irradiation are explained and endorsements from health organizations are mentioned, 54 percent of the nation's consumers would be willing to purchase irradiated meat.
Sixty percent said they would be willing to pay a slightly higher price for an irradiated hamburger.
But irradiation education is still at an early level. A separate survey commissioned by the Institute of Food Technologists showed that more than 30 percent of consumers wrongly perceive irradiated foods as being radioactive.
FDA approval soon?
These same concerns about outbreaks of food poisoning prompted Espy to support beef irradiation in testimony he gave to Congress. And these concerns apparently caused FDA to agree to Espy's request to expedite its review process.
The petition now pending before FDA would allow raw beef and pork to be treated with 1.5 kilograys (minimum) to 7.0 kilograys (maximum) of gamma rays from radioactive cobalt 60. This is comparable to the amount of irradiation that has been previously approved for poultry. Each kilogray is equivalent to about 100,000 rads, which would be the cumulative exposure from about 500,000 chest X-rays.
The exact amount of irradiation to be used is expected to vary, depending on factors such as thickness of the package, and whether the meat is fresh or frozen.
Previously, pork irradiation was approved at lower dosages-0.3 kilograys to 1.5 kilograys-as a treatment against trichinosis. Since trichinosis has been controlled through other means, and this lower level of irradiation isn't enough to destroy microorganisms, pork has yet to be commercially irradiated.
FDA action on the new beef and pork request may come in early 1995. If approved, USDA would uphold the request, Marsden says.
David Meeker, vice president of research and education for the National Pork Producers Council, said he agrees that previous approvals for the irradiation of chicken and pork should help speed approval of the latest petition. Meeker believes that FDA will give its response within 12 to 14 months, and that if it is favorable, implementation will quickly follow.
Education needed
Will the public buy irradiated products? Government approvals and doctors' endorsements alone cannot make the technology a commercial success. Consumers must understand and approve of the process.
At present, a small but growing number of consumers are already buying irradiated food products. Carrot Top Inc., a gourmet grocery store in Glenview, Ill., has enjoyed much success in selling irradiated foods.
Carrot Top found that customers actually prefer irradiated products. Following a brief effort to educate consumers through a newsletter and in-store signs, Carrot Top began carrying irradiated strawberries and other fruit in March 1992, says Jim Corrigan, Carrot Top president.
Corrigan added irradiated poultry (his store's first meat product) in September 1993.
Corrigan discounts other people's claims that consumer objections are what has kept irradiated products off the market.
"I've never experienced that sentiment," he notes.
Nations Pride, the country's No. 1 food distributor of irradiated poultry products, says its "Zapped" label has been accepted at food industry shows. Nations Pride currently sells such items only to Carrot Top and several retail stores in South Florida, near an irradiation facility, Food Technology Service Inc. (formerly named Vindicator), in Plant City, Fla.
The treated chicken costs about 2 cents a pound more to cover the cost of irradiation, according to Don Rayburn, Nations Pride president. He points out that shelf life is increased by about 10 days.
But Rayburn does not dwell on the extended shelf life as a selling point. He says the primary reason for irradiation is to make the product essentially pathogen free.
Marketing material from Nations Pride states that its food bearing the green "radura" logo has been "irradiated to kill 99.5 percent of disease-causing salmonella, listeria and campylobacter.
Nations Pride's irradiated food is produced by Food Technology Service Inc.
New irradiation facilities
While other companies and some university-based research facilities have been doing test runs and small-scale production, the Plant City facility is the only one in the United States irradiating food on a commercial scale. The facility has been commercially processing fresh food (beginning with fruits and vegetables) since January 1992, and fresh poultry since October 1993.
Other irradiators are set to enter the market soon. A company that filed the FDA petition for beef irradiation, Isomedix Inc. of Whippany, N.J., has 10 irradiation plants in the United States and one in Canada.
These plants primarily sterilize medical supplies, but Isomedix has done tests of food irradiation and has been in discussions with meat industry officials, says Grace Masefield, Isomedix's director of market studies and development.
Another company operating irradiation facilities in the United States is RTI Inc. of Rockaway, N.J. It is licensed to process poultry and recently announced the reopening of its irradiation plant in Salem, N.J., to supplement its plant in Haw River, N.C.
Sterigenics International of Freemont, Calif., recently announced the opening of what it calls "the world's largest contract irradiation facility" in Charlotte, N.C