FDA gives final approval to packaging for irradiated meats
The FDA has given its final approval to packaging to be used with irradiated beef, confirming research from the Illinois Institute of Technology that established the safety of the packaging.
Meat is packaged in the special plastic and then treated with electron beams to kill bacteria like e-co1i and listeria monocytogenes. E-beam treatment does not involve radioactive sources. George Sadler, Ph.D., of IIT’s National Center for Food Safety and Technology (NCFST) showed that the packaging, approved for other types of irradiation, was safe for use in e-beam treatment.
The FDA’s approval will make irradiated beef much more common in supermarkets than it had previously been because meat sellers are more interested in selling e-beam treated meat that meat that has been irradiated in other ways. The public has been slow to accept irradiated beef, fearing that the treated beef contains radioactive matter. By using e-beams to irradiate beef, the possibility of radioactivity contaminating the meat is zero.
“The Center was working on irradiation when it seemed to be a dead issue,” NCFST Director Dr. Charles Sizer stated. “We always felt this was a technology that had the potential to save lives. Not everyone wants irradiated beef, but now consumers have a choice.”
Irradiation is the only practical method proven to destroy E. coli in raw hamburger and Listeria in ready-to-eat lunch meat. These bacteria have caused widespread illness and death among U.S. consumers.
The National Center for Food Safety and Technology is the one place in the United States where scientists from FDA, the food industry and academia work cooperatively to analyze, test and study new approaches for assuring and improving the safety of the food supply. This neutral ground fosters a free exchange of information, breaking the traditional barriers between these sectors.
Founded in 1890, IIT is a Ph.D.-granting technological university awarding degrees in the sciences, mathematics and engineering, as well as architecture, psychology, design, business and law. IIT’s interprofessional, technology-focused curriculum prepares the university’s 6,200 students for leadership roles in an increasingly complex and culturally diverse global workplace.
