021055 Giant Food Introduces Irradiated Ground Beef

Landover, MD - Giant Food will become the first food retailer in the Baltimore- Washington market to offer customers fresh irradiated ground beef. Irradiated beef will provide customers with a new option for added assurance of food safety. Giant will be selling two SureBeam labeled irradiated beef products: 93% lean/7% fat and 85% lean/15% fat ground beef.

Irradiating food has proven to be a safe way to reduce the risk of food- borne illness, while maintaining the quality and fresh taste of the product. SureBeam irradiation is a process that uses a concentrated beam of electrical energy to destroy potentially harmful bacteria, including E. coli and salmonella. This process is environmentally safe and non- nuclear. Much like milk pasteurization, the SureBeam process helps to make food safer for consumers. This process does not heat the food and very little nutrient content is lost in processing -- far less than is lost in canning and cooking. The SureBeam process is approved by the Food and Drug Administration and by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and is endorsed by the major public health organizations including the American Medical Association, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Dietetic Association and the U.S. Surgeon General.

Although the irradiation process incurs additional processing costs, Giant will introduce irradiated ground beef at a sale price that is equivalent to non-irradiated ground beef. "Food safety has always been a priority at Giant. Now we are offering a new option in fresh ground beef for added assurance of food safety," said Odonna Mathews, Vice President of Consumer Affairs. Ms. Mathews also advises, "Consumers should carefully follow all food safety guidelines when preparing and cooking ground meat products. This includes washing hands and surfaces often, not cross contaminating food products, refrigerating products promptly and cooking ground beef to 160 degrees F by using a quick response thermometer or T-Stick."

Food-borne illnesses affect 76 million consumers and account for 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths each year, according to estimates by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Food irradiation improves the safety of foods for the people most highly susceptible to such illnesses, including diabetics, transplant patients, people on cancer therapies, HIV/AIDS patients, and the very young and elderly.

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