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April 5, 2001

PRESS RELEASE: Groups Blast Bush Administration for Plan to Buy Irradiated Meat for Schools

CANCER PREVENTION COALITION
GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT
INSTITUTE FOR AGRICULTURE AND TRADE POLICY
PUBLIC CITIZEN'S CRITICAL MASS ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT PROGRAM
U.S. PUBLIC INTEREST RESEARCH GROUP

For Immediate Release:
March 29, 2001
Groups Blast Bush Administration for Plan to Buy Irradiated Meat for Schools

Government Would Not Have to Tell Students or Parents About Irradiated Meat Purchases

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Consumer and food safety advocates today criticized Bush administration officials for planning to purchase irradiated ground beef for school lunch programs without informing students and parents.

The administration on Thursday backed away from a plan to scale back salmonella testing of ground beef destined for schools, but said the government likely still would purchase irradiated meat for schools. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) officials said irradiation could be used to kill disease-causing bacteria in meat. However, questions remain regarding the health effects of eating irradiated food. Following news reports on Thursday of the administration's reversal, the USDA told Public Citizen that its draft plan for procuring school lunch meat includes buying irradiated meat. And according to news reports, Ken Clayton, acting administrator of the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service, which buys food for federal nutrition programs, said that if the USDA purchased irradiated meat for schools, it would be up to schools to disclose that fact to students and parents.

"The meat industry wants to irradiate filth rather than using clean meat processing practices," said Wenonah Hauter, director of Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program. "American children deserve better than to be fed inferior meat treated with high levels of radiation."

Dr. Samuel Epstein, chair of the Cancer Prevention Coalition and professor of environmental and occupational medicine at the University of Illinois Medical Center-Chicago, added, "Irradiated meat is a very different product than natural meat. In sharp contrast to FDA claims of safety, based on grossly inadequate testing and rebutted by its own expert committees, there is well-documented scientific evidence that eating irradiated meat poses grave risks of cancer and genetic damage. Such evidence has been endorsed by a wide range of national and international independent public health experts. Furthermore, irradiated meat is highly susceptible to cross-contamination with food poisoning bacteria."

Felicia Nestor, food safety director for the Government Accountability Project stated, "The USDA has reduced the authority of meat inspectors and allowed slaughter lines to move at unbelievable speeds. Now, it wants to use irradiation to clean up the problems this causes. The Bush administration shouldn't make American children guinea pigs for irradiation. Instead, it should insure that the meat industry produces a clean and safe product."

Richard Kaplan, U.S. Public Interest Research Group's environmental advocate, reemphasized the need for parental right to know. "Parents have a right to know what kind of food their children are eating at school, but the USDA is not even required to tell them."

Jackie Hunt Christensen, food safety project director at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy in Minneapolis: "This gives new meaning to the term 'mystery meat,' because unique products are created when you irradiate meat."