# Presentation: 231612

## Institute of Food Science & Engineering

*TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION            COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND LIFE SCIENCES*
*TEXAS ENGINEERING EXPERIMENT STATION                              COLLEGE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE *
*TEXAS COOPERATIVE EXTENSION                                                           COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING*

***Food Irradiation: Policies and Possibilities for the Horticulture Industry***
***Sacramento, California ***
- Tom A. “Andy” Vestal. Ph.D.                                                                                             Assoc. Director- IFSE                                                                                     Assoc. Professor & Extension Specialist                                                       Texas Cooperative Extension

##  Yahoo News 

Activists Target U.S. Crops Produced With Methyl Bromide
Mon Nov 29,10:21 AM ET, Environment News Service (ENS) 

WASHINGTON, DC, November 24, 2004 (ENS) The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) launched a campaign Tuesday to convince supermarkets in the United States to stop selling food, such as tomatoes, strawberries and nuts, grown or treated with the chemical methyl bromide. 

Used as a pesticide and soil fumigant, methyl bromide is considered the most potent chemical still in widespread use that depletes the Earth's protective ozone layer. 

The international non-profit organization said it plans to investigate the supply chains for major supermarkets and campaign to have products produced with methyl bromide removed from shelves across the nation.

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- _[  ](http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/oneworld/SIG=pooml5/*http://www.oneworld.net)_
**Activists Target U.S. Crops Produced With Methyl Bromide**

- Mon Nov 29,10:21 AM ET
*, *_[Environment News Service (ENS)](http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/oneworld/wl_oneworld/byline/SIG=10lg1nhps/*http://ens-news.com)_
- WASHINGTON, DC, November 24, 2004 (ENS) The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) launched a campaign Tuesday to convince supermarkets in the United States to stop selling food, such as tomatoes, strawberries and nuts, grown or treated with the chemical methyl bromide.

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- _[Corporate Social ](http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/oneworld/wl_oneworld/inline/SIG=12ueis5s2/*http://www.oneworld.net/external/yahoo.php?url=http://www.oneworld.net/article/archive/4232/)__[Responsability](http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/oneworld/wl_oneworld/inline/SIG=12ueis5s2/*http://www.oneworld.net/external/yahoo.php?url=http://www.oneworld.net/article/archive/4232/)_

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- _[The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics](http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/oneworld/wl_oneworld/inline/SIG=130rgltmd/*http://www.oneworld.net/external/yahoo.php?url=http://www.foe.org/camps/comm/cancer/index.html)_

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Used as a pesticide and soil fumigant, methyl bromide is considered the most potent chemical still in widespread use that depletes the Earth's protective ozone layer. 
The international non-profit organization said it plans to investigate the supply chains for major supermarkets and campaign to have products produced with methyl bromide removed from shelves across the nation. |
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| Supported byCable & Wireless  |
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| --- | --- |

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| --- |

- _[  ](http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/oneworld/SIG=pooml5/*http://www.oneworld.net)_
**Activists Target U.S. Crops Produced With Methyl Bromide**

- Mon Nov 29,10:21 AM ET
*, Environment News Service (ENS)*
- WASHINGTON, DC, November 24, 2004 (ENS) The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) launched a campaign Tuesday to convince supermarkets in the United States to stop selling food, such as tomatoes, strawberries and nuts, grown or treated with the chemical methyl bromide.

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- Corporate Social Responsability

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- The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics

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|  |  
Used as a pesticide and soil fumigant, methyl bromide is considered the most potent chemical still in widespread use that depletes the Earth's protective ozone layer. 
The international non-profit organization said it plans to investigate the supply chains for major supermarkets and campaign to have products produced with methyl bromide removed from shelves across the nation. |
| --- | --- |

|  |
| --- |

| Supported byCable & Wireless  |
| --- |

-  Yahoo News
**Activists Target U.S. Crops Produced With Methyl Bromide**
- Mon Nov 29,10:21 AM ET*, Environment News Service (ENS)*
- WASHINGTON, DC, November 24, 2004 (ENS) The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) launched a campaign Tuesday to convince supermarkets in the United States to stop selling food, such as tomatoes, strawberries and nuts, grown or treated with the chemical methyl bromide.
- Used as a pesticide and soil fumigant, methyl bromide is considered the most potent chemical still in widespread use that depletes the Earth's protective ozone layer.
- The international non-profit organization said it plans to investigate the supply chains for major supermarkets and campaign to have products produced with methyl bromide removed from shelves across the nation.

## Questions we will attempt to answer.  

- Why A&M chose food irradiation technology?
- What is ionizing energy (radiation)?
- How does irradiation work?
- What effect does irradiation have on food?

## Why did A&M choose irradiation?

_*Definitive impact*_ on improving Food Safety
_*Definitive impact*_ as a countermeasure to quarantine
_*Definitive impact*_ of increasing shelf-life

## FDA Approval of FI in the U.S.

- Legislation that authorizes the approval process precludes approval in a risk-benefit analysis.
- To be approved, food irradiation must meet the more stringent “no detectable adverse health consequences” required of food additives.

## Prevalence (%) of E. coli O157:H7 in Raw, Ground Beef Products

- 8,000,000,000 lbs. annually
- _X__            .0032_ (.32%) E. pos samples
-     25,600,000** **lbs. E. pos ground beef in our food chain** **

- Only about 12,000,000 lbs have been  irradiated in 2004

- Food Safety Inspection Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture

## E. coli O157:H7 organisms remaining after chemical & irradiation intervention...                                         (initial cell pop. 25,000 cells/gram)

- Based on Belk, et al. (2003) Food Trends,
- Vol. 23, No. 1, Pages 24-34

**4oz. serving = 189 grams**

## Shelf-life extension of Strawberries 

- 1 kGy = extended shelf-life by 5 days

## Radiation (noun) is the energy!    

Irradiation (verb) is exposure to the energy!

- _Irradiation_ (verb) is exposure to the energy!

- Lets define the terms...

## What is “ionizing energy”?

-    Near one end of the electromagnetic spectrum are radio waves and microwaves...
-    ...at the other end are more powerful, ionizing lightwaves in the form of gamma rays, x-rays and electron beams...
-    ...ionizing waves can break chemical bonds in living cells by knocking off electrons.

## Microwave vs Irradiation

- When foods are exposed to the energy of
- microwaves atoms become excited causing
- them to bounce wildly about causing “thermal
- Radiation” (heat).
- When foods are exposed to the energy of
- gamma rays, x-rays, or electron beams
- ionization causes fracturing of molecular bonds.

## NASA Scientist on how it works? 

## Food Irradiation at NASA 

- Since 1972 NASA astronauts have consumed irradiated beef, ham and poultry.
- NASA irradiates food with up to 24 kGy to make it shelf-stable without refrigeration.
- The irradiation dose of commercial irradiated foods is significantly less...
- --1.5 kGy to rid ground beef of E. coli
- --0.225 kGy to rid papayas of Mediterranean fruit flies

## “Radura Symbol”

**  ****Irradiated for food safety.**

**Irradiated to protect American agriculture from foreign pests.**

## Does irradiated food become radioactive?1

- Irradiated food does not become radioactive.
- At approved radiation levels only chemical changes are possible.
- Over 35 years of research suggests that the chemical by-products of radiation (“radiolytic products”) are generally the same as chemical by-products of conventional cooking and other preservation methods.

## Impact on Nutrients

-    FDA & USDA impact assessments have validated that the relevant reduction of the composition of essential nutrients in irradiated food is “negligible.”

## Not all fruits and vegetables tolerate irradiation in the required dose range of .15-1.0 kGy 

## Key Western U.S. Retailers of Irradiated Produce

- Kroger – West and Southwest
- Safeway – West and Southwest
- Albertson’s – Southwest
- Stater Bros – Southern California
- SuperValue – West

## On-line Symposium 

- Sponsor: Food Manufacturing Magazine
- Event: Processing Technology Expo 2004
- Title:
-    How much safer is irradiated meat and poultry?
- Web Address:
-    http://pte04.unisfair.com/index.jsp

## Slide 20