But the government has failed to properly react to the situation. Instead of endorsing irradiation, a safe and efficient way of treating meat, Agricultural Secretary Dan Glickman has asked for more government regulatory authority to impose civil fines and order recalls of contaminated foods.
Irradiation is the use of ionizing energy on foods.
Once raw meat is pasteurized by irradiation, life-threatening bacteria such as E. coli are eliminated. Opponents of irradiation have been circulating claims that the procedure makes food radioactive and that irradiation poses a health hazard. The U.S. government has already approved the use of irradiation on pork to control trichina, and on poultry to curb salmonella. ACSH called upon the FDA to stop responding to the scaremongers and extend the protection of food pasteurization by irradiation to beef. The American Council on Science and Health is a consortium of more than 250 scientists.