USDA May Allow Beef Carcass Irradiation as 'Processing Aid'

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said a petition it has received from a meat industry group calling for the use of low-penetration and low-dose electron beam irradiation to kill bacteria such as E. coli on beef carcass surfaces has merit.

Irradiation exposes foods to ionizing radiation that kills insects, moulds and bacterium. The technology is seen by the industry as a means of ensuring food safety and extending shelf life.

Irradiation of raw meat and meat by-products to reduce bacteria populations is already permitted by the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the agency requires that these products must be labelled as ‘irradiated’.

The American Meat Industry (AMI), which represents packers and processors of beef, pork, lamb, veal and turkey products, claims that the treatment for chilled beef carcasses proposed in its petition should be deemed a ‘processing aid’ and as such the ‘treated with radiation’ labelling should not apply to meat derived from a carcass treated in this way.

FSIS does not require that the use of substances determined to be processing aids, such as the use of lactic acid as an antimicrobial carcass wash, be declared on product labels

Source: FoodProductionDaily.com