Industry Propaganda on Food
Irradiation is Spreading

Food irradiation process is getting favorable press: survey

by Bryan Salvage on 3/6/02 for www.meatingplace.com

Despite continuing efforts by anti-irradiation activists to railroad the
process, irradiation is generally getting positive press, based on results
from a recent University of Arkansas study.

The UA study, recently reported in the Food Safety Consortium newsletter,
shows that positive messages about irradiation are being communicated in
news reports. Equally important, negative comments about the procedure
are frequently countered in those same reports.

"I hope we can provide information to the food industry on how they
communicate their message and how effectively it's getting across through
the news media,"said Mike Thomsen, an assistant professor of agricultural
economics who is coordinating the project for the Food Safety Consortium.
"We want to provide information on what concerns consumers have through
their media consumption habits and whether those concerns are being
addressed."

The process, which ensures pathogen-free meat and poultry products through
the use of electron beams, X-rays or gamma rays, is not being widely applied
to many products in the grocery stores. But distribution of irradiated
ground beef products, in particular, is growing at retail and foodservice.
Before consumers are willing to try irradiated products, they must be sold
on the safety and effectiveness of the process. And as anti-irradiation
activist groups already know so well, articles in newspapers and magazines
and reports on broadcast news media can help shape public opinion on topical
issues.

Specifics of the survey

Researchers found 411 news reports from 1991 to 2001 from selected
newspapers and broadcast networks that at least mentioned irradiation.
Editorial page items such as opinion columns and letters to the editor were
not included.

The survey covered nine major newspapers: The Christian Science Monitor,
The New York Times, USA Today, The Washington Post, The Wall Street
Journal, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, the St. Louis
Post-Dispatch and the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times. Broadcast news report
transcripts were obtained for ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, CNN,
National Public Radio and the PBS News Hour.

In 62 percent of the articles and broadcasts, the reports contained the
statement or concept that irradiation helps control harmful pathogens.
Forty-five percent of the reports stated that credible authorities have
concluded that irradiation is safe. Irradiation's tendency to improve shelf
life was mentioned in 19 percent of the reports.

There were also negative messages, however. Twenty-one percent of the
reports said irradiation was harmful and left harmful residuals in food. But
this statement was countered with contrary comments in 11 percent of the
reports. Fifteen percent of the reports contained contentions that
irradiation adversely affects nutritional content, an assertion that was
countered in 9 percent of the reports.

Other negative statements include expression of consumer groups' concerns
over the safety of irradiated foods in 23 percent of the articles and
statements that consumer acceptance remains a major barrier to the marketing
of irradiated foods in 17 percent of the reports.

"Both advocates and opponents of the technology will communicate through
the media," Thomsen said. "Statements in the reports come across in terms
of background information. The reporter has gathered information and asked
someone for their position. The reporter is the filter through which the lay
reader learns the basics of irradiation."

Coverage of irradiation issues is still an occasional rather than regular
occurrence, according to a UA news release. The survey showed that articles
and broadcasts were infrequent events during the 1990s, except for a spike
in 1997. That was shortly after the Food and Drug Administration gave final
regulatory approval to the use of irradiation on red meat, which prompted
more stories than usual about the technology and its possible adoption in
the marketplace.