Iradiation helps ensure food safety
Irradiation
helps ensure food safety Source of Article: http://www.hpj.com/archives/2008/nov08/nov10/Irradiationhelpsensurefoods.cfm?title=Irradiation%20helps%20ensure%20food%20safety By Jennifer Bremer Ensuring the safety of the food supply is a pertinent part of the food
chain. Research with irradiation has led to improved safety at the
pre-consumer part of the chain. "Our facility here opened one month after the Jack-In-the-Box
incident in 1993," he said. "So our immediate studies were done on
eliminating the risk of E. coli in beef." Olson is an expert in food safety and particularly meat safety. The U.S.
Food and Drug Administration has allowed the
irradiation of meat to control pathogens since 1997, and since 1990 in
poultry. But he said it was a long process before that and they continue to
work on ways to make irradiated beef more accepted at the grocery store
counter. "People need to understand that irradiating beef isn't going to harm
them at all but, in fact, it makes it safer and protects it more from
illness-causing pathogens," he said. "But consumers must still
understand that proper food handling at home is a must, also." The process The entire process of irradiating food products depends on the amount of
time needed and exposure to the non-radioactive electron beams. The items are
placed in a cart, which then moves into the linear accelerator and follows
along a conveyor until it reaches the spot of exposure. The facility is built with several safety devices to ensure no human
exposure to the rays. The process can kill most microorganisms in the food and decreases the
chance of foodborne illnesses. Ground beef has been an important part of Olson's research through the
years because of the amount of surface area and the possibility of
contamination in the ground product. "Ground beef comes from so many different areas of a carcass and has
an extremely higher risk for pathogens to be present," he said. Olson said the use of irradiation somewhat mirrors the adaptation of
pasteurization in milk. "It wasn't until the public health officials said we needed milk to
be pasteurized that it became a widely used practice," he said.
"The problem is, enough people are going to
have to become ill for the health professionals to realize irradiation is
beneficial for eliminating the risk in so many different foods. "While irradiation can help get rid of the microorganisms, consumers
also need to use proper food handling procedures to prevent recontamination
in the kitchen," he added. Irradiation not only kills microorganisms, but also increases shelf life
by nearly two-fold. Fresh meat products that normally last 14 days can last
28 days with irradiation. With a new process using carbon monoxide,
researchers have found an increase in shelf life of up to 55 days. This
process is intended for selling meat at convenience stores where the supply
isn't leaving the shelves as fast, according to Olson. Irradiated beef While irradiated meat is safe, it has also had some hurdles to clear for
consumers. Eye appeal is important to consumers when purchasing beef. Most
are looking for a bright red color. Irradiation can turn beef a more brownish
or grayish color, according to Another problem has been odor. Ahn has found
that adding certain natural products to beef before irradiating it allows the
meat to maintain a healthy, red appearance and inhibits odors that can result
from the process. By adding an antioxidant and vitamin E, which are both natural compounds
found in living organisms, to the beef, Ahn was
able to prevent color change and odor-causing lipid oxidation.
"The color change and odor that comes from irradiating meat is due to
the oxidation of lipids and pigments, and small changes in proteins in
meat," said Ahn. "This process slows down
oxidation and removes the unfamiliar odor from irradiated meat." He said his research likely will most benefit ground beef since the
additive can be mixed into the meat during the grinding process, before they
are pressed into patties. Ahn stressed the importance of irradiating meat
and other food products for consumer safety. "The irradiation process benefits those who need it most, people who
may be susceptible to illness brought on by bacteria--especially children and
the elderly," he said. "The nutritional value of the meat is not
affected." Currently, Ahn's research cannot be used on meat
available to consumers. Irradiation is considered an additive by the FDA.
Meat cannot have more than one additive by regulation. "I hope the FDA will change irradiation's classification from an
additive to a treatment, or approve the use of irradiation in processed meat,
a petition that has been pending since 1999," he said. Once the approval is accepted or changed, Ahn
said many people will be interested in his technology. Use in other foods After the spinach and lettuce illness outbreaks in 2006, more emphasis was
put on prevention. In August 2008, the FDA approved irradiation
pasteurization to be used on fresh spinach and iceberg lettuce to kill
illness-causing bacteria. "If the FDA had approved irradiation sooner and it had become a more
common practice, we could prevent illnesses and deaths," said Olson. "What's sad is that the FDA, after a nearly nine-year review,
selected only two products involved with the massive illnesses in 2006,"
he added. The FDA is still considering what other types of produce might be
safely irradiated, including other leafy vegetables, tomatoes and peppers. What is significant about the newest FDA rule is that it is the first time
the federal government has allowed produce to be irradiated at levels
sufficient to kill E. coli, salmonella and listeria--all
microorganisms that make people sick. The FDA has approved the use of irradiation to eliminate insects from
wheat, potatoes, flour, spices, tea, fruits and vegetables since 1985, but it
couldn't be used to treat vegetative pathogens until now. Consumer acceptance Olson stresses the importance of using irradiation to prevent foodborne illnesses. "Cost and consumer acceptance are the two biggest obstacles that
still stand in the way of irradiation," he said. Irradiated ground beef generally costs 20 to 30 cents more per pound than
non-irradiated. Olson said there is a challenge to meet the demand for the irradiated
product since there is a limited number of commercial
irradiation facilities in the country. A facility was recently opened in Several companies currently irradiate spices on-site in much smaller
facilities. Olson said for companies to be able to afford to add irradiation to their
process, they would need to add an on-site facility. "In just the ground beef market, with 8 billion pounds of ground beef
being sold each year and facilities like the one in The Schwan Food Company and Omaha Steaks
currently irradiate 100 percent of their ground beef. Some other smaller
companies also market irradiated beef on a smaller scale. The use of irradiation destroys pathogens that lead to foodborne
infections. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that 76 million
Americans get sick, more than 300,000 are hospitalized, and 5,000 people die
from foodborne illnesses each year. "It's unfortunate that people have to get sick for us to get
requirements to prevent the illnesses," said Olson. Date: 11/7/08 |
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