By Cat Holmes
University of Georgia
Food irradiation is safe, say University of Georgia experts. But
it’s not necessarily popular.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will make irradiated ground
beef available to the nation’s school lunch program by January
2004. The recent announcement renewed public debate over the
technology of food irradiation, which bombards food with gamma
rays, electron beams or x-rays.
At issue, in this case, is children’s safety. Is irradiation a
technology that might help turn back the rising tide of
food-borne illness in U.S. schools? Or are school children
going to be used as guinea pigs to research a potentially
dangerous food processing technique?
“Study after study has demonstrated that low-level irradiation is
safe,” said UGA food safety expert Mike Doyle. “The U.S. Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Medical
Association, the World Health Organization and the (U.S.) Food
and Drug Administration have all blessed irradiation at 10
kilograys or less.”
Public knows little
Many people simply don’t know much about food irradiation. And
the idea scares them, said UGA Extension Service food safety
specialist Elizabeth Andress.
“Irradiation is one of the most studied food preparation
techniques in history,” Andress said. “There is nothing
radioactive about the food. And studies haven’t been able to
detect any changes in food composition other than changes similar
to food that has been baked or broiled.”
Indeed, irradiation renders food safer, said Doyle, director of
the UGA Center for Food Safety and one of the world’s leading
authorities on E. coli O157:H7.
“It greatly reduces the risk of E. coli and, to a lesser extent,
salmonella,” Doyle said. “At the low doses used in food
irradiation, it won’t ensure elimination of harmful microbes in a
contaminated product. But it certainly reduces the risk (of
food-borne illness).”
Public health problem
Food-borne illness is a significant public health problem, and
contaminated meat is a major source. The CDC figures food-borne
pathogens cause 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations
and 5,000 deaths each year. In 2002, nearly 50 million pounds of
contaminated meat were recalled.
Outbreaks of food-borne illness in U.S. schools have increased by
10 percent in the past decade. Of the 59 largest outbreaks, 40
have been traced to food provided through the federal school meal
programs.
While irradiation can greatly reduce the risk of food borne
illness, it faces some big hurdles, Doyle said. One is that
consumers are suspicious of it. The other is that irradiation can
compromise the taste, smell or texture of food.
When meat is irradiated, “free radicals form,” Doyle said.
“That’s what, in large part, kills the bacteria. The fattier the
food, the more free radicals form, and they oxidize the fat.”
Uh, no thanks
The result, say many who have tried ground beef given
pasteurization doses of irradiation, is meat that smells like a
wet dog.
Doyle doesn’t think this has to be a problem for the federal
school lunch program. If the meat is used within a week and
processed with a minimum dose of irradiation, he said, the odor
doesn’t typically occur.
Long-term storage, however, may be a problem. If schools freeze
large quantities of meat over the summer, for example, they may
have to contend with an odor and taste that will send the kids
running.
“Irradiation is a food safety option,” Doyle said. “However, it’s
not the holy grail of food safety.”
(Cat Holmes is a science writer with the University of Georgia
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.)
