990279 Irradiated Meat Must be Prominently Labeled

Washington - U.S. meat companies can use irradiation to kill deadly bacteria but only if they prominently label packages to inform consumers, the U.S. Agriculture Department said Wednesday.

USDA issued the proposed rules at a time when an outbreak of listeria in hot dogs and lunch meat produced by a Michigan plant has killed 16 and sickened many others.

Irradiation has been embraced by some experts as an efficient way to kill potentially dangerous bacteria in ground beef and other cuts of meat. Consumer groups are less certain benefits outweigh the risk to worker safety, and meat companies are concerned about the cost of installing the equipment.

Irradiation exposes food to small amounts of radiation from X-ray machines or electron accelerators that penetrate and kill bacteria without raising the temperature.

Companies would not be required to use irradiation.

The most controversy over the USDA regulations is likely to center on the department's proposed labeling rules.

The USDA wants to require that package labels contain the international symbol for radiation and a statement telling consumers the product was treated with irradiation. The symbol must be “prominently” placed on the package and the statement printed on the front of the label, the USDA said.

But regulators said they might also allow companies to adopt a more consumer-friendly label that states a product is free of E. coli or other pathogens because of irradiation.

More than 25% of Americans are expected to purchase irradiated ground beef products, the USDA said.

The cost of treating beef would include between two and six cents a pound for the equipment and labeling, amounting to between $35 and $105 million for irradiating 1.7 billion pounds of ground beef, the USDA said.

Those expenses would be more than offset by fewer food poisoning cases, which mean reduced costs for doctor bills and lost work.

Tom Billy, administrator of the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service, said the rules must give companies “significant flexibility” in using irradiation.

“The Food Safety and Inspection Service has endeavored to propose regulations for the irradiation of meat food products that set forth performance objectives, rather than prescribe specific processing methods,” the USDA said.

That means setting a cap on the maximum dose of irradiation for beef, and allowing plants to develop their own procedures for use.

The new rules will also cover poultry. The USDA approved irradiation for poultry several years ago, but few companies have used it because of the expense.

Consumer and industry groups have until April 26 to offer their views on the proposed regulations. The USDA will then spend several more weeks developing a final set of rules.

An estimated 9,000 Americans die from food poisoning annually, according to government figures. The exact number of illnesses is difficult to track because many consumers mistake food poisoning for other ailments.

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