Quotable Quotes:
Oahu farmers can celebrate a major boost next February when a commercial radiation facility opens near Honolulu Airport. The apparatus will enable them to disinfect papayas and other fruit and vegetables with X-rays so they can expand markets on the mainland and in Japan, which bans untreated produce. Honolulu Star Bulletin Editorial

"I will be a customer, but this is not an irradiator for Michael Kohn, but for Hawaii agriculture. You can irradiate any agricultural products in it -- tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, anything hollow that can host a fruit-fly larvae," Michael Kohn, President Pa'ina Hawaii

"Surface treatment using very low dose and low penetrating electronic irradiation will minimize contamination to a tremendous extent....And will be a very effective way to reduce illnesses from a variety of pathogens.” Former Under Secretary for Food Safety Dr. Elsa Murano
 

In This Update:

Oahu, Hawaii fruit is ripe for irradiation
Hawaii firm plans new facility for irradiation: A company official promotes its potential for agriculture exports

Former under secretary for food safety Elsa Murano urges government to rely upon science
 

A Hawaii company plans to build a facility to irradiate fruits and vegetables

Oahu farmers can celebrate a major boost next February when a commercial radiation facility opens near Honolulu Airport. The apparatus will enable them to disinfect papayas and other fruit and vegetables with X-rays so they can expand markets on the mainland and in Japan, which bans untreated produce.

Michael Kohn's Pa'ina Hawaii has submitted an application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for operation of an "underwater, pool-type commercial irradiator," and approval is virtually certain. The technology, the preferred method of killing bacteria, fruit flies and other insect pests, has widespread acceptance and the commission should give its quick go-ahead.

The proposal may face Luddite opposition similar to the unfounded protests that preceded the opening of an irradiation facility in the Puna district of the Big Island five years ago. Opponents exploited preposterous fears comparing the process with nuclear power and even nuclear weapons.

Henry Curtis, president of the Life of the Land environmental group, concedes that the process "may not leave any radiation on the food," but he is "not sure if it affects the nutritional value or if toxics might be produced."

Those concerns are baseless. The Food and Drug Administration began approving irradiation of food products more than 40 years ago and it is now used in 37 countries. It is endorsed by the American Medical Association, the World Health Organization and other authoritative bodies.

As for Curtis's concern, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports, the foods are not changed in nutritional value and they are not made dangerous as a result of the irradiation."

The new facility should provide an economical incentive to increase production of papayas and exotic fruits grown here for shipment elsewhere.

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A Hawaii company plans to build a commercial irradiation facility near Honolulu Airport to treat Hawaii fruits and vegetables for export.  Pa'ina Hawaii submitted an application to operate a "underwater pool-type commercial irradiator" to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on June 27. Pa'ina President Michael Kohn said he hopes to have the facility in operation by February 2006 and that it will have the potential "to treat 80 million pounds of papaya per year."

But at the outset, the facility's first customer might be Kohn's own Hawaii Fruit Co. "I will be a customer, but this is not an irradiator for Michael Kohn, but for Hawaii agriculture," Kohn said. "You can irradiate any agricultural products in it -- tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, anything hollow that can host a fruit-fly larvae," Kohn said.

Kohn said he used to be skeptical of irradiating food with radioactive materials to kill bacteria and insect pests but has been convinced that it is safe and effective.

Lyle Wong, administrator of the state Department of Agriculture's Plant Industry Division, said the project has the potential to open up new export markets for Hawaii produce that have quarantine restrictions on it because Hawaii has fruit flies.

The facility also could be used for programs that sterilize male fruit flies for export to the mainland, where they breed with wild female flies, producing sterile eggs and helping reduce fruit-fly populations, Wong said.  And it could be used to treat incoming flowers, some of which bring insect pests into Hawaii, Wong said. Wong said he supports irradiating Hawaii produce as a means of getting it into the mainland market.

Hawaii's only existing irradiation facility is in Hilo, and it's cost prohibitive for Oahu, Maui and Kauai growers to ship produce there for treatment, Wong said.

Henry Curtis, president of the Life of the Land environmental group, said he wants to learn more about the facility. "My concern is how the irradiation affects the food itself," Curtis said. "While it may not leave any radiation on the food, I'm not sure if it affects the nutritional value or if toxics might be produced. We'd certainly look at the application very carefully."

Kathy Dorn, a Big Island resident who opposed proposals to put an irradiation unit there, said, "We opposed it because we were opposed to the importation of radioactive materials."

Dorn advised Oahu residents "to look very carefully into this and see what they're talking about. Realize accidents happen. Toxic products could damage the image of the Hawaiian fruit as being healthy and wholesome."

Pa'ina plans to use a Graystar Genesis irradiation unit, which keeps Cobalt-60 in a 20-foot deep pool of water, which shields it from human contact, Kohn said.

About 600 pounds of items to be treated are loaded onto pallets that are covered with stainless-steel "bells" that resemble diving bells. These are lowered into the water with pressurized air inside the bell so the items don't get wet, and held over the radioactive material for several minutes.

He said his unit will fall well below the federal Food and Drug Administration maximum radiation level for food irradiation. The commission will hold a public meeting on the application within 60 days.

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Former under secretary for food safety Elsa Murano urges government to rely upon science; resist "caving" to uniformed sources

 Inside AMI via FSNET (August 10, 2005):

Governments worldwide must rely upon science in policymaking and resist ‘caving to pressure from uninformed sources, according to former Under Secretary for Food Safety Dr. Elsa Murano, who spoke yesterday to more than 700 delegates at the International Congress on Meat Science and Technology (ICOMST) in Baltimore, MD. Murano left USDA in late 2004 and is now the vice chancellor and dean of agriculture and life sciences in the Texas A&M University System.

Quoting Dr. Louis Pasteur, she said. "Science must be used to improve the lives of others.” She described how science-based policies, including HACCP, have reduced the incidence of pathogens on meat products, and ultimately have improved the lives of consumers. She said that industry-government cooperation has contributed significantly to this progress. Still, she cited three challenges that must be addressed in future: BSE, Salmonella and ‘zero tolerance for bacteria on raw products.

Murano recommended that USDA conduct a third party review of all BSE risk assessments to date. In addition, she recognized the need to thoroughly explain to the public and our trading partners the statistical validity of the U.S. BSE surveillance program. Further, she recommended that USDA conduct a definitive study on BSE testing methods and cease reliance on foreign laboratories to confirm U.S. BSE test results. She challenged USDA to become the leader in this arena.

In the fight to further reduce Salmonella, she urged that comprehensive HACCP reassessments be conducted at poultry operations. She also stressed the need for a comprehensive definitive study on Salmonella Newport to further understand this emerging pathogen.

Finally, she challenged industry, USDA and legislators to recognize that zero tolerance for pathogens on raw products requires technologies that destroy the pathogen. "Legislation to establish zero tolerance in raw products does not ensure that pathogens will disappear,” she said. There must be a critical step that kills pathogens, such as proper cooking prior to consumption, Murano noted.

Using an example of new technology, she strongly encouraged USDA to approve irradiation for use as a processing aid when applied to the outside surface of a carcass. "Surface treatment using very low dose and low penetrating electronic irradiation will minimize contamination to a tremendous extent,” she said, "And will be a very effective way to reduce illnesses from a variety of pathogens.”

In a closing remark that clearly came from experience on the front lines of Washington policymaking, Murano told ICOMST attendees "Government needs to use science in food safety policy and not 'cave in' to pressure from uninformed sources.”
For more information visit http://www.meatami.com/

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The Minnesota Beef Council will be assisting with, conducting or participating in the following irradiation education activities:

1. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota State Fair (August 25-September 4, 2005)
2. Tulare, CA; The World Ag Expo; Food Safety Seminar (Feb 15, 2006)