Quotable Quotes:

" Luckily for me and millions of other Americans who do not know what they are missing, the USDA agreed last year to allow six new fruit to be imported from Thailand: Lychee (they spelled it "litchi"), longan, mango, mangosteen, rambutan, and pineapple. Apparently, they will use a process called irradiation, which "involves briefly exposing food to ionizing energy for a specific length of time in order to destroy or sterilize bacteria." The USDA's FAQ tells us that the FDA has spent 40 years evaluating this process, used in 50 countries, and it has been approved by the World Health Organization

This is wonderful news, and when these odd looking fruit, with funny names, appear in your grocery, I encourage you to give them a try. You won't regret it."

Red Lantern Diary; Dispatches from Asia

"The Agriculture Department and beef processors are dithering while children are dying. It's time for ground beef to be routinely irradiated.

Dr. Harry Hull MD, St. Paul, Minnesota

..."Over 30 countries were currently utilising the century-old technology (irradiation) in the treatment of foods and pharmaceutical products. ìGlobal perception of the technology is rising and Nigeria needs to take advantage of what it has to offer to add value to its agricultural products for exportî.

Dr. Adesanmi, Sheda Science and Technology Complex, Abuja, Nigeria

ìHad the ground beef consumed by Stephanie (Smith of Cold Spring, Minnesota)  been irradiated, she would not have become ill. It is time for the beef industry to routinely irradiate ground beef. The USDA/FDA-approved process is already being used by several visionary companies, including Schwan's, Omaha Steaks and others. Irradiation will do for ground beef what pasteurization did for milk.

Ronald F. Eustice, Minnesota Beef Council

In This Update:

Minnesota firm recalls ground beef products due to possible E. coli O157:H7 contamination

Nuclear technology, Vital to Nigerian Agricultural Development

The Fruit of AsiaÖNow Available to US Because of Irradiation

Extra incentive needed for fresh fruit exports

The Way to Make Food Safe

Marler Blog

Pritzker Blog

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

January 12, 2008: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/News_&_Events/Recall_002_2008_Release/index.asp
WASHINGTON -- Rochester Meat Company, a Rochester, Minn., firm, is voluntarily recalling approximately 188,000 pounds of ground beef products because they may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, the U.S. Department of Agricultureís Food Safety and Inspection Service announced today.
 

The problem was discovered through an investigation initiated by the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services and the California Department of Public Health into five illnesses in Wisconsin and one illness in California.

The ground beef products subject to recall were produced on Oct. 30, 2007, and Nov. 6, 2007. The products subject to recall were shipped to distributors nationwide for further distribution to restaurants and food service institutions. These products were not available for purchase by consumers in retail establishments

The Sheda Science and Technology Complex (SHESTCO) says the introduction of Gamma Irradiation facility in Nigeria is to demonstrate the peaceful application of nuclear technology.

Adesanmi said that the irradiation facility sited at Sheda, near Abuja, was meant to add value to Nigerian agricultural and industrial products.  He said: ìFoods or industrial products treated at the plant will have their shelf life extended and gain global acceptabilityî.

He explained that irradiated foods had no harmful effects, stressing that such foods were on high demand at the international market as buyers were sure that micro-organisms and bacteria were eliminated during irradiation. The director added that ìIrradiated food is a quick sell on the international market.î

He stressed that over 30 countries were currently utilising the century-old technology in the treatment of foods and pharmaceutical products. ìGlobal perception of the technology is rising and Nigeria needs to take advantage of what it has to offer to add value to its agricultural products for exportî, he said.

Adesanmi explained that the facility at the complex could preserve, decontaminate, sterilise medical and pharmaceutical devices and products, as well as polymerisation of plastics and rubbers.

The science complex chief said that the technology was better than the chemicals currently used in the country for the preservation of beans and other food items. 

While shopping at the Central wet market the other day, I found myself thinking, as I placed a custard apple and then a pomelo in my basket, "We can get a message around the world in 60 seconds, but I still cannot buy a mangosteen in QFC." Asia boasts some of the tastiest - albeit often unattractive - fruit in the world, and yet many of its offerings are still not found fresh in the United States.

According to the USDA, the most popular fruit in the US are bananas, apples, grapes and oranges. I would argue that this is because most Americans have never had the immense pleasure of tasting a mangosteen or pomelo, two of my favorites. I eat them so often and enjoy them so much that I cannot imagine life without them. Thoughts of a mangosteen, with its hard purplish exterior one breaks off to find the succulent white meat inside, make my mouth water. Pomelos, grown in Thailand and China (I prefer the Thai version) and resembling large grapefruits but less tart and drier (in a good way), are no less appealing. You peel away the skin and pull off all the white zest to find a little piece of heaven. But this is just the beginning.

The more I thought I about the absence of earth's Asian bounty in North America, the more curious I became, so I went to the United States Department of Agriculture's web site, searching for an explanation of this deprivation. There I found that the US government has banned the import of many foreign grown tropical fruit to protect local crops from pests or diseases that could harm local agriculture. Of course! Anyone who has driven into California is aware of the dangers of introducing harmful fruit to this fertile yet fragile environment.

Luckily for me and millions of other Americans who do not know what they are missing, the USDA agreed last year to allow six new fruit to be imported from Thailand: Lychee (they spelled it "litchi"), longan, mango, mangosteen, rambutan, and pineapple. Apparently, they will use a process called irradiation, which "involves briefly exposing food to ionizing energy for a specific length of time in order to destry or sterilize bacteria." The USDA's FAQ tells us that the FDA has spent 40 years evaluating this process, used in 50 countries, and it has been approved by the World Health Organization

This is wonderful news, and when these odd looking fruit, with funny names, appear in your grocery, I encourage you to give them a try. You won't regret it. And for those of us on temporary assignment in Asia, it makes our eventual repatriation just a little bit easier. Now, about getting Thai pomelos added to the listÖ

To read the rest of the story and go to a Thai market

CHENNAI: For fresh fruit exports to become competitive in the international market, a 25 per cent air freight subsidy is required by Indian exporters. This would help bring down prices of fruit exports and scale up volumes. The subsidy was earlier given but discontinued in 1999.

Neighbouring countries like Pakistan have an edge in fresh fruit exports as the Government provides a freight subsidy and chartered flights for exports to the Gulf countries. This fetches the exporters a larger number of buyers. Moreover, the government subsidy offsets any loss on account of reduced prices on exports.

"Mishandling of fruit cartons at the airport is another irritant causing a loss of about 5 per cent in each cargo. Better facilities of handling need to be provided by airport authorities," D Prabhu, Director of Chennai-based Best Exporter told this websiteís News Paper. The company exports about 500 tonne of fresh fruits per annum, including mangoes and pomegranates.

Availability of cold storages and pre-cooling facilities near the mango farms is another demand of exporters. The exporters require governmental support in this venture, said Prabhu.

While Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have not fared well in fresh fruit exports, Andhra Pradesh scored in grapes and mango exports, said AGM of APEDA, R Ravindra. The country exported over Rs 700 crore worth of fresh fruits in FY'07.

Adequate irradiation facilities in quarantine for mango exports to USA are also required in the South.

Currently, the technology is available only at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Nashik. This imposes an extra burden of Rs 6 per kg on transportation, scaling up costs for exporters.

Plans are afoot though for setting up irradiation facilities in Hyderabad also. Read more....

Technology to Make Beef Safer; December 27, 2007; Washington Post:

Regarding the Dec. 21 Business article "Beef's Wake-Up Recall": The Agriculture Department must do more than rethink safety rules for ground beef. The current system is designed to reduce, not eliminate, E. coli and other hazardous bacteria. We're still eating hamburger contaminated with deadly germs, and our children are getting sick and dying.

Improved processing has reduced positive samples to 0.2 percent, but that means that 1 in 500 pounds of raw ground beef contains E. coli. Recalls are not particularly effective. On Dec. 20, the Agriculture Department ordered the recall of meat contaminated with drug-resistant salmonella that had been sold between Sept. 19 and Nov. 5. How much of that remained uneaten?

More thorough cleaning, additional testing and more frequent inspections might conceivably cut contamination in half, at considerable cost. But is 1 in 1,000 -- or even 1 in 5,000 -- an acceptable contamination rate for our children's food? We need a definitive step to kill any harmful bacteria that remain after processing. Safe, effective and inexpensive technology -- irradiation -- is available now. Ground beef from a few forward-thinking processors already is irradiated, as are most spices and an increasing number of tropical fruits.

The Agriculture Department and beef processors are dithering while children are dying. It's time for ground beef to be routinely irradiated. To read more...

HARRY F. HULL , St. Paul, Minn.

AMERICA'S GROUND BEEF; Make it as safe as milk; (January 7, 2008) Star Tribune; Letter to the Editor:

Finally some good news: Twenty-year-old Stephanie Smith of Cold Spring regained consciousness after spending more than nine weeks in a drug-induced coma. She contracted the E. coli bacteria after eating Sam's Club hamburger in September and has been at St. Mary's Hospital in Rochester ever since.

Had the ground beef consumed by Stephanie been irradiated, she would not have become ill. It is time for the beef industry to routinely irradiate ground beef. The USDA/FDA-approved process is already being used by several visionary companies, including Schwan's, Omaha Steaks and others.

Irradiation will do for ground beef what pasteurization did for milk.

RONALD F. EUSTICE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, MINNESOTA BEEF COUNCIL, BLOOMINGTON