011009 Firm's Claims on Food Irradiation Misleading

Washington - The food irradiation company SureBeam Corp. cannot claim that its process is similar to pasteurization, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said in a letter released late last week.

A spokesman for San Diego-based SureBeam said Health in late August that the company had been informed by the USDA that it could claim its technology is capable of pasteurizing meats and poultry.

The company was responding to allegations by consumer advocacy group Public Citizen that its pasteurization claims were false and misleading. The group had asked the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate SureBeam and several other companies.

After being shown SureBeam's claims, USDA deputy administrator Philip Derfler wrote to Public Citizen, saying that SureBeam had not provided the federal agency with "data proving that their irradiated meat and poultry products are, in fact, 'pasteurized."'

Irradiation involves exposing foods to ionizing radiation in order to kill pathogens such as E. coli and salmonella. The technology is approved for use on a range of foods including meat, poultry, fruits and vegetables. Pasteurization kills pathogens by exposing them to heat.

Pasteurization with irradiation is theoretically possible, but has not been proven by SureBeam or any other company, and SureBeam has not provided information on whether its irradiation equipment "is capable of pasteurizing meat and poultry products," Derfler wrote.

"Additionally, neither SureBeam nor any other firm has yet presented (the USDA) with labeling bearing the term 'pasteurized' that was not viewed as misleading," his letter states.

Derfler said that the FTC is "examining" SureBeam's claims and that the USDA is cooperating.

On the company's Web site, SureBeam describes its technique as "electronic pasteurization." Public Citizen has complained that the term is misleading because it means nothing to consumers. It and other health and environmental groups have in the past taken stands against food irradiation because they believe the safety of the process is unproven.

SureBeam spokesman Wil Williams insisted that SureBeam is operating within the law, noting that its clients are not making pasteurization claims on labels.

"Whether or not we get to use that word 'pasteurization' is up to the FTC," he said, but he maintained that the technology is capable of pasteurizing food. He said that the company has not been contacted by the FTC.

Public Citizen said the FTC asked two other companies, Omaha Steaks and Huisken Meats, to change their Web sites and promotional material to remove terms such as "pasteurized" and to include "irradiation." Those two companies promptly responded, said Mark Worth, a Public Citizen researcher.

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