WASHINGTON - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) hopes to approve use of irradiation of red meat to destroy pathogens such as Escherichia coli 0157:H7 by the end of the year. George Pauli, director of product policy at FDA's Office of Premarket Approval for Food Additives, said that approval of this application for the technology "...is our highest priority at this time."
IsoMedix, a New Jersey company, petitioned the FDA in 1994 to use high doses of radiation to kill disease-causing organisms on all mammalian meat sources. The agency has been sifting through the evidence of effectiveness and potential toxicity ever since, says Pauli.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman told the Senate Agriculture Committee that he expected the FDA to approve the technology within the next few weeks. But Pauli says that is unlikely.
The FDA has approved irradiation for killing salmonella and other organisms in poultry, for retarding sprouting and growth in fresh fruits and vegetables, and for insect control in spices. IsoMedix is seeking approval to use ionizing radiation at doses much higher than those used on vegetables, and up to twice as high as doses used for poultry.
But it "...is a pasteurizing dose, not a sterilizing dose," notes Pauli. Even so, he says the firm has provided ample evidence that irradiation would effectively kill E. coli and other pathogens.
The FDA's review has taken a long period of time because it also looked at whether or not irradiation of meat would permit organisms to regrow, or if it would change the nutritional content or add harmful toxins, says Pauli.
With an increasing number of outbreaks of illness associated with E. coli in beef, Pauli says that the agency is trying to expedite its review of irradiation. In September, the American Meat Institute claimed that the FDA was delaying approval. The institute, which represents meat packers and processors, has said that prevention technologies are more important than giving the government more power to recall infected products.
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