Clinton Signs Bill Mandating Fraudulent Labeling
on Irradiated Food

Headline: Meat Irradiation
Wire Service: APn (AP US & World)
Date: Sat, Nov 4, 2000

By Philip Brasher
AP Farm Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Do consumers have a beef with having their meat
irradiated? Lawmakers think so, and they blame it on irradiation, the word.
They have told the Food and Drug Administration to consider allowing
alternative terms for irradiation, such as "cold pasteurization," that
meatpackers can use on labels. A spending bill that President Clinton
recently signed into law directs the agency to come up with the wording by
early 2002.

The use of the word irradiation "clearly stirs some anxiety in some
consumers," said Brian Folkerts, vice president of government affairs for
the National Food Processors Association. "It's construed by some consumers
as a warning."

The Agriculture Department in February approved the use of irradiation
to kill E. coli O157:H7 and other harmful bacteria in ground beef and other
meat. Even before that approval, industry officials worried that consumers
would balk at the term irradiation.

Food is irradiated when it is exposed briefly to electrons, gamma rays
or X-rays. The process does not raise the temperature of the food, hence
the term "cold pasteurization."

A leading advocate of alternative labeling is Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin
of Iowa, whose state has a facility that treats ground beef with
electron-beam radiation.

The FDA requires labeling of irradiated products to indicate that they
have been treated with irradiation. They also must bear a special symbol,
known as the radura, which consists of green petals in a broken circle.
At the direction of Congress, the agency proposed early last year to
consider alternative language for the labels. The FDA has yet to act.
The FDA is reviewing public comments as it considers the idea of
different language on food labels.

Consumer advocacy groups oppose any changes.

"It's hard to continue to be supportive of irradiation when there is
this continuing effort to hide it from the public," said Carol Tucker
Foreman, director of the Consumer Federation of America's Food Policy
Institute. "It undermines public confidence in a new technology."
Industry officials say they want to make irradiated food sound less
frightening to consumers.

"The use of the term irradiation can be misleading," said Christine
Bruhn, director of the Center for Consumer Research at the University of
California-Davis. "They think perhaps it's radioactive."

Bruhn recently received a grant from the Agriculture Department to
devise programs to promote irradiation.

She suggests that labels read something like this: "Treated with cold
pasteurization (irradiation) for improved safety."

Research by both the food industry and consumer advocacy groups has
shown that shoppers want the term to appear on treated products. The
studies have differed as to whether consumers prefer additional wording
used in conjunction with what the FDA now allows.

The vast majority of products now irradiated are spices, herbs and
seasonings. Some irradiated fruits, vegetables and poultry also are
available, along with treated ground beef, in Florida and the Midwest,
according to a recent report by the General Accounting Office.
The major buyers of irradiated products are health care and food service
establishments that want to minimize the threat of foodborne illness.
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On the Net: Food and Drug Administration: http://www.fda.gov
National Food Processors Association: http://www.nfpa-food.org
Consumer Federation of America: http://www.consumerfed.org
End Advance for Sunday, Nov. 5