A listeria outbreak prompted a massive shutdown and cleaning effort at a Maple Leaf Foods plant on Aug. 20, 2008.
Radiation touted to protect meat
August 29, 2008
Food safety experts are baffled why Ottawa has not yet allowed food producers to zap meat and produce with enough radiation to kill deadly bacteria that cause outbreaks of food-borne disease.
Health Canada said Wednesday it is considering approving meat irradiation by early 2009. But experts say the announcement, made in the wake of a nationwide listeriosis outbreak linked to ready-to-eat meats, is too late in coming.
"It's become obvious that a catastrophe has to happen before the technology can move forward," said Dennis Olson, a professor of animal science at Iowa State University and an international expert on irradiation. The technology involves exposing food to radiation, disrupting the DNA of bacteria, including listeria, which either kills them or renders them unable to reproduce.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved meat irradiation in 2000, after a 1993 outbreak of E. coli 0157, linked to fast food hamburgers, sickened 200 people and killed four children, Olson said.
Just last week, the FDA allowed the irradiation of spinach and bagged lettuce, which Olson said is in response to two E. coli outbreaks in 2006, in lettuce and spinach. Three people were killed and more than 250 people were made sick.
Critics say irradiation excuses food producers and governments from following safety protocols and are concerned it reduces the nutritional quality of foods or turns them radioactive.
The majority of food safety experts are convinced irradiation would make food production systems safer. Irradiation is approved in more than 50 countries – 15 of which do not restrict the types of foods that can be irradiated – and has been endorsed by the World Health Association, said Olson.
"If we have a substantial amount of food irradiated, we will have substantial fewer illnesses," said Olson, who considers the technology on par with other "pillars of public health," such as the pasteurization of milk, chlorination of city water and vaccines for common childhood illnesses.
Douglas Powell, an associate professor of food safety at Kansas State University who formerly did research at the University of Guelph, said Health Canada should approve irradiation for most foods, including processed meats.
"Government approval is merely the first step," he said. "That doesn't mean anyone is going to use it. But it's a necessary first step.
"There's a whole lot of noise around the issue, but the focus here is do we have technologies that lead to fewer sick people? There is way too much food-borne illness and people get sick and die. If there are tools to help reduce those numbers, we need to explore them."
The listeria outbreak is linked to 15 deaths in five provinces, including 12 in Ontario. The bacterial infection is considered the principal or contributing cause in eight of those deaths in Ontario, while another four deaths in the province remain under investigation.
The outbreak has been linked to a Maple Leaf Foods Toronto plant that has since recalled more than 220 ready-to-eat meats sold in grocery stores and used in fast-food outlets across Canada. Consumers can visit the Canadian Food Inspection Agency or Maple Leaf websites for a list of recalled products, which will have 97B printed next to the expiry or packaging date.
At an Ottawa news conference, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz did not answer a question regarding his government's position on irradiation. But Dr. Jeff Farber, director of Health Canada's bureau of microbial hazards, said the government has not yet received any submissions from food producers who wish to irradiate processed meats.
"We do have some foods that are currently allowed to be irradiated, such as wheat, spices, potatoes and onions," Farber said.
He said producers have submitted proposals for raw meats, raw poultry, shrimp and mango and they are currently making their way through the regulatory process.
Farber said irradiation shouldn't be considered a bandage for safety. "You don't want to use irradiation to treat bad food. You've got to use it sensibly in combination with food manufacturing practices."
He also said processed meats might not be the best candidates for irradiation. "I think realistically the better applications would be for irradiation of things like raw meats to inactivate E. coli," he said.
But Olson, who has studied food irradiation since 1993, recently investigated whether it works with processed meats and found it to be effective at controlling bacteria.
Caroline Smith DeWaal, director of food safety at the Centre for Science in the Public Interest, said food irradiation in the U.S. is largely an empty gesture since food producers are reluctant to use the technology because consumers shy away from irradiated food. The FDA requires food producers to clearly label such foods.
"An irradiated product is certainly safer than one that is nor irradiated, but consumers may be concerned that irradiation is used to hide sanitation problems in the industry."