000648 Florida Residents First to Try Irradiated Beef

Auburndale, FL - Food Technology Service, Inc. and Colorado Boxed Beef Company announced that Florida consumers will be the first to try irradiated fresh ground beef, now available at independent retail grocers throughout Florida.

“We want to offer consumers the safest meat available, fresh or frozen,” said Steve Saterbo, Colorado's senior vice president. “And because more than 80% of customers buy fresh ground beef, not frozen, it only makes sense to rollout the fresh product first.”

The fresh irradiated ground beef is being sold under Colorado's New Generation label in 1- and 1.5-pound packages. The packaging will carry the international symbol for irradiation -- the radura -- green flower inside a broken circle, which is increasingly becoming recognized as a symbol for food safety.

Irradiation is a process similar to pasteurization which uses ionizing energy to eliminate bacteria in food, such as E. coli, Listeria and Salmonella. Each year, more than 76 million food-borne illnesses are reported, resulting in 5,000 deaths.

“Irradiation has proven to eliminate food-borne pathogens and prevent food-borne illness. Now consumers have the option of purchasing irradiated products and putting the safest food available on their family's table,” said Dr. Richard Hunter, Heath Officer, Florida Department of Public Health.

Today six Florida based retail supermarkets will begin offering consumers irradiated fresh ground beef. In the very near future, according to Ellis, several national retail chains located in the east will begin stocking the New Generation brand. The commissary at the Naval Air Station in Orlando is also offering their consumers the choice of irradiated ground beef.

“Consumers use irradiated products every day and may not even realize it,” according to Ellis. “Medical disposable supplies, cotton balls, contact solution, and feminine hygiene products are just a few of the products that are currently irradiated.” Now, with the recent USDA approval of irradiated red meat, consumers can also have their fresh ground beef irradiated for an extra measure of safety.

Food Technology Service was the first dedicated commercial food irradiator in the nation and currently irradiates the food eaten in space by NASA astronauts. In addition, Food Technology Service conducts ongoing testing and irradiation for major meat and poultry processors.

Food Technology Service, the country's most experienced commercial food irradiation company, is dedicated to preventing food-borne illness by working with the public health community and industry in a concerted, strategic effort to educate consumers about irradiation's role in food safety.

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