Irradiated Meat - Making Your Food Safer? Process Destroys Harmful Bacteria E. Coli; Salmonella; Campylobacter and Cyclospora. Words… germs such as these, as well as Salmolla, Listeria and others, seem to appear in our news stories more and more, stories of food recalls and sickness. In November 1998, Florida producer Colorado Boxed Beef had to recall 359,000 of beef products because of possible bacterial contamination. Recently certain lots of Ball Park hot dogs were recalled. Why? And why do many Americans fear a proposed – and government approved – cure? The answers to the first question are many and varied, and include:
Lee County’s population grew by an estimated 77,863 individuals between 1990 and 1999. Based on sheer numbers, we can continually expect more food-related illness. Nationally, the story is the same – more people, more illness. We eat out more. According to a 1998 New York Times article, Americans now spend 40 cents of every food dollar in restaurants and fast food establishments, compared to 27 cents in 1970. This equates to more people spending more time possibly exposed to unsafe food preparation and handling.
We eat "healthier" now – more fresh fruits and green vegetables; foods are available year-round that once were only seasonal items. In fact, we now import thirty billion tons of food from other nations annually. Bacteria and contaminants don’t respect borders. As it has in many other areas of American business, consolidation has had a huge impact on the farming industry and on how we grow our crops. In the 1930’s there were about seven million farms in the United States; today there are about two million. Centralized production and larger size has meant more opportunities for larger problems. People are living longer lives. Modern medicine has brought longer lives to many with terminal diseases; many infants survive today that wouldn’t have just a few years ago. Together, these groups tend to be more susceptible to infection and illness. Another factor: thanks to advances in science such as organism identification by a process known as PCR, or polymerase chain reaction analysis, disease identification is constantly becoming more accurate. E.Coli 0157:H7, which produces potentially deadly blood and kidney damage, and Campylobacter, which can lead to paralysis, are examples of recently identified pathogens that in reality have probably been with us from time immemorial. Add to the above the incredible advances in computer sophistication and speed in the last few years, plus changes in mass communication, including the internet, and we see how food illness incidence, identification, reporting and the public’s knowledge have all changed over the years.
"Food-borne illness is one of the most common, yet most preventable of mankind’s ailments," says epidemiologist Dr. Robert South of the Lee County Health Department. Established home methods for controlling and preventing food-borne disease include the "Fight BAC" program. The basic steps include proper hand and material washing, proper food separation and storage, correct cooking temperatures, and prompt refrigeration. (Further details can be found in the accompanying sidebar). One proven method of controlling bacterial infection, however, though proven effective and safe, still is not commonly in use. "Low-dose irradiation of raw meat and poultry, performed at the slaughterhouse, would eliminate dangerous bacteria such as E. Coli, Salminella, Campylobacter, and others" states Dr. Judith Hartner, health department director. According to the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), studies clearly show that when irradiation is employed as approved:
While getting high marks from science, groups such as Food & Water, Inc. and the Organic Consumers Association have lobbied hard against irradiation. Among their beliefs: that irradiation damages the quality of food; science has not proved that a long-term diet of irradiated foods is safe for human health Irradiation; using radioactive materials is an environmental hazard; irradiation is a temporary 'fix' for poor sanitation. "Irradiation takes us just one step farther away from nature," says Ken Case, North Fort Myers irradiation opponent. "A generation ago, food was grown for survival. Today, food is grown for profit, and therein lies the problem – factory-farming of animals, grown in confined places with antibiotics and hormones."
Yet the realities of today’s food production, coupled with the fact that much of today’s food is imported, are what argue in favor of irradiation. No one debates that food production, particularly of imported items, is often less than ideal. W. Dexter Bellamy, a Fort Myers resident with a Ph.D. in microbiology and biochemistry, wrote in a 1998 News-Press article, "…foods from countries with lower sanitary standards than the U.S. are now found in all markets. Requiring such foods to be radiation pasteurized would eliminate a major source of poisoning." Others, like Case, say "Provide clean, wholesome food to start with, and then let the marketplace decide." But the one overriding factor working against food irradiation seems to be fear. To Americans, words like Irradiation bring on vague thoughts of The Fifties, The Bomb, and glow-in-the-dark mutations. "Nukeing meat? I don’t like it. I’m afraid of the possible after-effects later in life," says Lehigh Acres resident Maria Borek. Does irradiation make foods radioactive? No. According to Laura Tarantino, Ph.D. with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the process involves exposing food to a source of radiation, such as to the gamma rays from radioactive cobalt or cesium or x-rays. However, no radioactive material is ever added to the product. This same technique is used to sterilize many disposable medical instruments. The harm is to the disease-causing bacteria – the Listeria, the Shilgella, the E. Coli, Cyclospora and others. They’re destroyed. Meat irradiation is not a cure-all or a replacement for good food-handling and storage techniques. As the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta states, "Consumer confidence will depend on making food clean first, and then using irradiation or pasteurization to make it safe. Food irradiation is a logical next step to reducing the burden of foodborne disease in the United States."
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