Quotable Quotes:

"Low levels of irradiation can help ensure that U.S. beef producers are providing the safest, highest-quality ground beef products possible. That's the conclusion of Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists at the Roman L. Hruska U.S. Meat Animal Research Center (USMARC) in Clay Center, Neb.

"Hamburgers, apple cider, petting zoos and even spinach have been blamed for E. coli outbreaks in recent years. It doesn't have to be that way. Irradiation of high-risk foods after processing could greatly reduce the incidence of all bacterial foodborne disease and save hundreds of lives each year. Dennis G. Maki, M.D., writing in the New England Journal of Medicine.

"Irradiation does not make the food toxic, carcinogenic or radioactive, as many people believe. In fact, the CDC estimates the irradiation of high-risk foods could prevent up to a million cases of food-borne illnesses that are seen each year in North America." Dr. Marla Shapiro writing in the Globe & Mail (Toronto).

In This Update:

Irradiation for Healthier Food

Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of the Use of Irradiated Meat among Respondents to the FoodNet Population Survey in Connecticut and New York

Irradiation Could Reduce Food-Borne Illness

Reduce the risk of food-borne illness

Food Irradiation Research and Technology text book now available from IFT & Blackwell Publishing

Radiation takes a lot of blame for a variety of problems, from sunburn to superhero maladies. But in small doses, it actually contributes to a safer food supply.

Low levels of irradiation can help ensure that U.S. beef producers are providing the safest, highest-quality ground beef products possible. That's the conclusion of Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists at the Roman L. Hruska U.S. Meat Animal Research Center (USMARC) in Clay Center, Neb.

Ground beef can pose a serious threat to human health if contaminated by a disease-causing microbe, or pathogen, during grinding. USMARC Director Mohammad Koohmaraie and his colleagues examined the effectiveness of using low levels of radiation on beef carcasses before cutting, to reduce pathogens in ground beef.

High-penetration, high-energy radiation is a safe method of killing bacteria, but it can alter the beef's odor and flavor. Could low-dose, low-penetration electron beam (E-beam) irradiation offer an effective alternative?

The researchers discovered that the low-penetration E-beam reached approximately 15 millimeters (about 1/2 inch) below the surface of the carcass. Because pathogens are most prevalent on the surface, this technology can significantly lower their numbers.

Research also showed that E-beam irradiation effectively reduced pathogens on the carcass surface with little to no influence on the flavor of beef that was used to make stir fry and ground beef products.

Agricultural Research Service is the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) chief scientific research agency.

Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of the Use of Irradiated Meat among Respondents to the FoodNet Population Survey in Connecticut and New York; Journal of Food Protection, Volume 69, Number 10, October 2006, pp. 2441-2446(6)

Abstract: Irradiation of fresh meat to control microbial pathogens received approval from the federal government in February 2000. Food irradiation is a useful, albeit underutilized, process that can help protect the public from foodborne illnesses. The objective of this study was to determine consumer knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward irradiated meat products. Data were obtained from a single-stage random-digit dialing telephone survey of residents of the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet) sites conducted in 2002 to 2003, which included supplemental questions about food safety and irradiated meat for residents of the Connecticut and New York sites. Thirty-seven percent of 3,104 respondents knew that irradiated fresh meat was available for purchase; however, only 2% found the product where they shopped. Knowledge of product availability was significantly influenced by whether a respondent lived in a county with one or more grocery stores operated by chain A, which had actively promoted the sale of irradiated fresh ground beef during the survey period. In a logistic regression model, after adjusting for other factors, respondents living in a county with chain A were more likely to know that irradiated products could be purchased than respondents living in other counties (odds ratio 2.0; 95% confidence interval 1.5 to 2.5). This finding suggests that public education efforts by an individual grocery store chain can have an important effect on knowledge of irradiated food.

By: Hoefer, Dina; Malone, Shauna; Frenzen, Paul; Marcus, Ruthanne; Scallan, Elaine; Zansky, Shelley;

Affiliations: 1: New York State Department of Health, Albany, New York 12237, USA 2: Connecticut Emerging Infections Program, New Haven, Connecticut 06510, USA 3: Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 20036, USA 4: Foodborne and Diarrheal Diseases Branch, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30333, USA

Hamburgers, apple cider, petting zoos and even spinach have been blamed for E. coli outbreaks in recent years. It doesn't have to be that way, says Dennis G. Maki, M.D., writing in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Irradiation of high-risk foods after processing could greatly reduce the incidence of all bacterial foodborne disease and save hundreds of lives each year, Maki argues.

"Irradiation kills or markedly reduces counts of food pathogens without impairing the nutritional value of the food or making it toxic, carcinogenic, or radioactive," according to Maki, a professor of medicine at the University of Wisconsin.

In the latest major E. coli outbreak, 199 persons in 26 states were sickened by fresh spinach or spinach-containing products from commercial brands processed by Natural Selection Foods of San Juan Bautista, California. At least 103 of them developed acute renal failure and three died.

It was, said Maki, at least the 26th reported outbreak of E. coli infection traced to contaminated leafy green vegetables since 1993.

But the problem of food-borne illness extends beyond the widely publicized mass outbreaks. Magi said that during each day of the spinach E. coli outbreak, "there were at least 5 to 10 times as many cases of endemic Shiga toxin?producing E. coli infection throughout the country as there were outbreak cases."

Agencies charged with food safety -- the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) -- have ratcheted up their surveillance efforts. But after some initial success, the rate of decline in food-borne illness has leveled off over the last decade, according to Maki.

The use of industrial farming techniques make it much harder to ensure the safety of meat and produce, Maki said.

"During my childhood in 1950s rural Wisconsin, when I ate a hamburger at home, the ground beef had been produced locally from cuts taken from several sides of beef purchased by the neighborhood grocer from a local farmer, who probably raised no more than 25 pasture-fed cows on a 150-acre farm," he recalled.

"Today, virtually all beef consumed in North America is produced on a vast industrial scale, starting with a herd of tens of thousands of grain-fed cattle, raised in the final months before slaughter in the constrained environment of a feedlot, with the beef cuts from hundreds of cows to several thousand contributing to a single lot of more than 100,000 pounds of ground beef, shipped to many hundreds of supermarkets in multiple states."

There has been a decline in E. coli contamination of ground beef but produce is another matter.

"Although most reported infections with Shiga toxin producing E. coli are linked to undercooked ground beef, nearly 25% of outbreaks stem from contamination of commercial produce that is eaten uncooked ? lettuce, spinach, cabbage, sprouts, or tomatoes," Maki said.

Irradiation Already Approved

Irradiation of food is already approved in the United States for most perishable foods and has been endorsed by the World Health Organization, CDC, FDA, USDA, American Medical Association, and European Commission Scientific Committee on Food.

But, says Maki, intense opposition from antinuclear activists has blocked widespread use of the technology.

"A number of food products are already commonly irradiated, with no evidence of harmful effects, and for decades, we have sterilized hundreds of millions of implanted medical devices through irradiation each year," Maki said.

The CDC has estimated that irradiation of high-risk foods could prevent up to a million cases of bacterial foodborne disease that result in the hospitalization of more than 50,000 persons and kill many hundreds each year in North America.

"I believe it is time to overcome our irrational fears and act to ensure the safety of our food," Maki concluded.

I was recently away in the United States. At breakfast, I asked for spinach in my omelette and was told it had not been available since the E. coli outbreak this summer. Indeed, we have recently seen several outbreaks of food-borne infectious diseases.

A recent editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine pointed out that after E. coli in hamburger, tainted water in municipal systems, infected lakes, outbreaks at zoos, the spinach scare, and, most recently, salmonella in chocolate, it would appear that nothing is safe.

Most infections of E. coli are associated with undercooked ground beef, but about 25 per cent of reported outbreaks are associated with products that have been eaten uncooked, such as spinach, sprouts and tomatoes.

One report highlighted in the New England Journal article includes apples that fell from trees, were then contaminated by E. coli from the manure that was used to fertilize the soil and then these apples were made into cider.

Although the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports a significant decline (43 per cent) in contamination of ground beef by E. coli, that same kind of decline has not been reported in vegetables. North Americans eat about four million tonnes of lettuce, spinach and sprouts every year.

The media tend to focus a great deal on certain outbreaks. But the authors of the New England Journal paper point out that during the recent case of spinach contamination, there were five to 10 times as many U.S. cases of food-borne illnesses that weren't related to the high-profile outbreak.

There are a number of things you can do to reduce your risk of food-borne illness:

• Keep any raw foods, such as fruits and vegetables, separate from raw meat, poultry and seafood.
• Keep perishable items, such as fruit and vegetables, in the fridge.
• Precut or peeled produce should be refrigerated within two hours.
• If produce has been prewashed and is in a closed package, it is not essential that it be washed when first opened. But if it was opened the day before, and is being consumed as a "leftover," then it must be rewashed.
• Loose fruits and vegetables should be washed completely before eating even if you plan to peel them.
• Drying the produce with a clean towel or paper towel may further reduce the bacteria.
• Always wash your hands before preparing foods.
• Always wash cutting boards, any utensils used and countertops with hot, soapy water between their use for any raw meat, poultry, seafood and uncooked produce.
• Plastic and nonporous cutting boards should go through the dishwasher.
• Do not put cooked meat back on the same plate that raw meat was on.
• Cook poultry, beef and eggs completely and thoroughly.
• Don't eat or drink products with raw eggs or unpasteurized milk.
• Don't hesitate to send food back if it is undercooked.

But even if you take all these steps to avoid food-borne contamination, you might still get sick. So, experts are looking at another option -- food irradiation.

The World Health Organization, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Medical Association as well as the European Commission's Scientific Committee on Food have all endorsed the irradiation of food, which kills or dramatically reduces bacteria and parasites without changing the food in terms of its nutrient value.

As Health Canada points out, irradiation is used in food processing for several reasons:

To prevent food poisoning: by reducing the level of harmful bacteria such as E. coli O157:H7, salmonella and campylobacter, and parasites that cause food-borne diseases;

To prevent spoilage: by reducing the microbial load on foods, meaning it destroys bacteria, moulds and yeast that cause food to spoil, and controls insect and parasite infestation;

To increase shelf life: by slowing the ripening or sprouting in fresh fruits and vegetables, thereby allowing for longer shelf life;

Irradiation does not make the food toxic, carcinogenic or radioactive, as many people believe. In fact, the CDC estimates the irradiation of high-risk foods could prevent up to a million cases of food-borne illnesses that are seen each year in North America.

In the meantime, while public policy looks to find ways to reduce outbreaks, it is our responsibility to handle, store and prepare all our food safely.

Dr. Marla Shapiro can be seen Tuesdays on CTV's Canada AM. (Please direct queries about personal health issues to your doctor.)