990269 STERIS Will Offer Comment on Proposed Irradiation

Mentor, OH - STERIS Corporation announced its intention to file comments during the public review period on the newly-published United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) rule for the irradiation of meat and meat products to reduce levels of food borne pathogens and to extend shelf life. The United States Food & Drug Administration (FDA) previously approved the irradiation of red meat on December 2, 1997.

Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman announced the proposed rule on February 12, 1999. The proposed rule appeared yesterday in the Federal Register with comments to be allowed through April 26, 1999. STERIS anticipates that a final rule will not be issued by the USDA until several weeks after the end of the comment period.

Speaking about the USDA action, Bill R. Sanford, Chairman, President, and CEO of STERIS Corporation, stated, “There are few things more important to society than ensuring that the food we eat is safe. The recent widely reported instances of food contamination and the heightened awareness of the dangers of salmonella, E. coli bacteria 0157:H7, and listeria have put this matter squarely on the public agenda.

“John Masefield, Chairman and CEO of Isomedix, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of STERIS, is the principal author of the 1994 meat irradiation petition that the FDA approved over a year ago. We are proud of that accomplishment and believe the USDA public comment process is another important step toward the broader adoption of safe, scientifically-proven irradiation technology to help protect consumers from food borne disease.”

Mr. Sanford continued, “As a global leader in infection and contamination prevention in the health care, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, biomedical, and research industries, STERIS is in a unique position to apply its expertise in the food industry. Although the final USDA rule governing limited meat irradiation applications will likely be forthcoming in a few months, there is much to do before food irradiation can be widely used. The new rule will only apply to fresh meats and does not cover items such as hot dogs and luncheon meats. In addition, the industry will need to modify or construct processing facilities, install and validate irradiation systems, improve aseptic practices, and address numerous logistics challenges.”

Mr. Sanford concluded, “In the interim, STERIS has a multitude of other anti-microbial systems, products, services, and technologies that can be used today in a systems approach to greatly enhance food safety throughout the entire food chain. Just as STERIS has provided comprehensive solutions to such critical challenges as the aseptic packaging of pharmaceuticals and the sterilization of medical devices, we are already bringing our expertise and capabilities to the food industry through our new Food Safety Division. STERIS will also continue to play a leadership role to expand the safe and effective use of irradiation as another weapon in the fight to assure that the United States food supply continues to be the safest in the world.”

STERIS Corporation is a leading provider of infection prevention, contamination prevention, microbial reduction, and surgical support systems, products, services, and technologies to health care, scientific, research, food, and industrial Customers throughout the world. The Company has over 4,500 Associates (employees) worldwide, including more than 1,700 direct sales, service, and field support personnel. Customer Support facilities are located in major global market centers with production operations in the United States, Canada, Germany, Finland, and Sweden.

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