Quotable Quotes:

" We have in our hands a safe, effective tool to eliminate E. Coli in food products. Unfortunately, only a few processors are using it. The rest are playing Russian roulette with their product and seem to be content with the damage-control cost of outbreak litigation. Those of us involved in the beef industry should be ashamed that we haven't insisted that the irradiation technology be a mandatory part of ground beef production. Irradiation is a proven, safe, cost-effective technology that can save lives and preserve the livelihood of those raising beef, those processing the product and those of us in related businesses."

Stanley E. Held, D.V.M; Buffalo, MN

"It's time for the beef industry to stop being cowed by a small minority, and serve the majority of the public who want to protect their families against food-borne disease. Routine irradiating of ground beef will be good for beef producers. More importantly, it will be good for our kids."

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:

We have the answer

Irradiate all ground beef

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

I read with interest and concern the article entitled ìRejected?î in December BEEF.

As a veterinarian with more than 40 years' experience in mixed large-animal practice, I'm well aware of the economic and public relations implications of repeated surfacing of outbreaks of E. coli O157:H7, primarily from a ground beef source. Nor has it been lost on me that many of these outbreaks have resulted in countless cases of human sickness, and even deaths, with the fatalities often defenseless children.

Certainly it's not unusual to note that these outbreaks are a result of contamination of ground beef, often traced back to a lack of a processor's adherence to the industry's own hazard analysis critical control plan (HACCP). My concern is that this article repeats that it is necessary for the end user of the product to cook it to ìwell doneî and to avoid contamination of the cooked product through contact with uncooked product or its juices.

However, it appears the end user or vendor isn't taking this precaution seriously. I am really concerned that the article fails to mention the one proven preventive measure ó the irradiation of all ground meat products.

In a Nov. 24, 2007 op-ed piece by Michael Osterholm in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy and professor in the University of Minnesota School of Public Health says, ìE. coli is simply the enemy: we should treat it as nothing less. Irradiation is the only way we can confidently say the meat we eat is safe.î

We have in our hands a safe, effective tool to eliminate E.coli in food products. Unfortunately, only a few processors are using it. The rest are playing Russian roulette with their product and seem to be content with the damage-control cost of outbreak litigation.

Those of us involved in the beef industry should be ashamed that we haven't insisted that the irradiation technology be a mandatory part of ground beef production. Irradiation is a proven, safe, cost-effective technology that can save lives and preserve the livelihood of those raising beef, those processing the product and those of us in related businesses such as veterinarians and publishers of industry press.
Stanley E. Held, DVM
Buffalo, MN

It's time to irradiate all ground beef. Despite laudable efforts that have reduced the levels of E. coli contamination, recalls have increased significantly. The reasons are debatable, but the cause doesn't really matter.

Any level of contamination isn't good enough for our children. Every contaminated burger that isn't thoroughly cooked, and every kitchen contaminated through careless food handling, is a disaster waiting to happen. Every kid that ends up on kidney dialysis or dead from hemolytic uremic syndrome is one tragedy too many.

We've known for a long time that irradiation will control the E. coli problem more effectively than any other technology. Why isn't it being used?

Is it cost? How do a few pennies per pound compare with the costs of recalls, or the lost sales and lawsuits that follow outbreaks? The cost of irradiation will be even less as volume increases.

Is it because of perceived changes in flavor or color? Slight changes may be detected by a handful of professional tasters, but hundreds of thousands of consumers in Minnesota and elsewhere who have actually sampled the product can't tell the difference and have enjoyed irradiated hamburgers for nearly a decade.

Is it because of consumer concerns? Special-interest groups and anti-nuclear activists have tried hard to spread misinformation about irradiation. Despite their efforts, irradiated food is already on the market and selling well. Omaha Steaks and Schwan's are irradiating their frozen burgers. Wegman's is selling irradiated fresh ground beef in the Northeast. Where are the protests over irradiated spices or the irradiated papayas and mangos that are now available from Hawaii, India, Thailand and elsewhere?

Research shows that, when given even a small amount of accurate information about irradiation, consumers actually prefer irradiated ground beef and will pay more for it.

It's time for the beef industry to stop being cowed by a small minority, and serve the majority of the public who want to protect their families against food-borne disease. Routine irradiating of ground beef will be good for beef producers. More importantly, it will be good for our kids.
Harry F. Hull, MD
Saint Paul, MN

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