CONSUMER CONCERNS

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CONSUMER CONCERNS
Tom A. Vestal, Ph. D. Texas Cooperative Extension
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COMMON CONSUMER CONCERNS

• Write down 3-5 concerns that you have about food
  irradiation.

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CONSUMER BELIEFS AND ACCEPTANCE

• Consumers positive beliefs have increased
• ½ in 1980s 70 in 1990s
• Even greater increase in 2000s
• Some consumers readily accept this technology,
  most are undecided, and very few oppose it

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CONSUMER KNOWLEDGE

• Three years ago, very few consumers knew about
  food irradiation
• More recently, consumers seem to have more
  knowledge about food irradiation
• Gained through newspapers and television
• Insufficient knowledge was top reason for not
  purchasing irradiated food

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WHY THE NEED?

• Each year in America
• Estimated 76 million foodborne illnesses
• 1 in four Americans has foodborne illness
• 1 in 1000 Americans is hospitalized
• Over 5,000 die
• Over 6.9 billion in medical costs

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WHY THE NEED IF I THOROUGHLY COOK FOOD?

• Food can look cooked, but not reach high enough
  temperature to destroy harmful bacteria
• Some toxins are not destroyed by heating
• Irradiation destroys harmful bacterial before it
  comes into the kitchen, reducing potential for
  cross-contamination

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• We cannot let the safety of our children rest
  with cafeteria or fast food service workersWe
  can not protect our kitchen from every single
  microbe. We must get it (E. coli O157H7) out of
  the food system.
• -Nancy Donley, STOP (1998)

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COMMON CONSUMER CONCERNS

• Average consumer
• What is it?
• Is it safe?
• Does it change flavor or nutrition value?
• Does irradiated ground beef cost more?
• Critics
• ? Will lead to deterioration of standards
• ? Unknown Risks
• ? Another example of the multi-nationals taking
  over the world

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CRITICS ARGUMENTS AGAINST

• (This) is little more than an excuse for the sale
  of contaminated (food).
• (This process) will be used to mask low-quality
  foods. Better controls and inspection are what is
  needed.
• (This process) decreases the nutritional value of
  (food).
• (It) leads to formation of harmful products in
  (food). Possibly dangerous substances could be
  formed.
• (This process) will increase the price of the
  product. It is not necessary. We have a direct
  and prompt food distribution system.

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CRITICS ARGUMENTS AGAINST

• Pasteurization is little more than an excuse for
  the sale of contaminated milk.
• Pasteurization will be used to mask low-quality
  foods. Better controls and inspection are what is
  needed.
• Pasteurization decreases the nutritional value of
  milk.
• Pasteurization leads to formation of harmful
  products in milk. Possibly dangerous substances
  could be formed.
• Pasteurization will increase the price of the
  product. It is not necessary. We have a direct
  and prompt food distribution system.
• Milk Pasteurization, Hall Trout (1968)
• Technology Review (December 1997)

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SAFETY
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HOW DOES FDA DETERMINE FOOD IRRADIATION IS SAFE?

• Toxicological safety
• Radiological safety
• Microbiological safety
• Nutritional adequacy

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TOXICOLOGICAL SAFETY
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CRITICS CLAIM NEW CHEMICALS ARE FORMED

• ? FDA has determined that any type of food
  processing technology will produce some chemical
  changes in food.
• ? The so-called radiolytic compounds produced
  by irradiation are essentially no different from
  thermolytic compounds produced by conventional
  cooking.

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TOXICOLOGICAL SAFETY

• Classic approach Determine highest level of
  treatment that causes no ill effects in animals
• Add 10 fold safety factor for animal / human
  differences and 10 fold for human variability

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IS IRRADIATED FOOD TOXIC?

• ? Over 50 years of research and shows that
  consumption of irradiated foods is not toxic.
• Food irradiation has been more extensively
  studied than any other type of food safety
  technology

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STUDIES SHOWING THAT IRRADIATED FOOD IS NOT TOXIC

• Species Dose Length of study Effect
• Rats 28-56 kGy 2 yrs None
• Monkeys 28-56 kGy 2 yrs
  None
• Dogs 10-30 kGy 2 ½ - 4 yrs None
• Humans 1-30 kGy Over 2 yrs None
• Irradiated foods used by NASA since Apollo 17
  mission in 1972
• Other studies with mice, hamsters, rabbits,
  bacterial cells, mammalian cells

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RADIOLOGICAL SAFETY
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RADIOLOGICAL SAFETY

• ? Irradiation energy is too low to cause food to
  become radioactive.
• ? Irradiation does not make food glow in the
  dark
• ? Electron beam does not even use radioactive
  materials

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IRRADIATION SOURCES

• ? Previously, cobalt-60 was used.
• ? Cobalt-60 pencil rods decay to non-radioactive
  nickel.
• ? Newer technology does not use radioactivity but
  electricity.

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FACILITY SAFEGUARDS

• ? No radioactive waste disposal problem
• ? There are many safety features so that workers
  are not exposed to radiation

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MICROBIOLOGICAL SAFETY
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MICROBIOLOGICAL SAFETY

• Can bacteria mutate and become more dangerous?
• -No the reverse has been found

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DOES IRRADIATION MAKE SPOILED FOOD MARKETABLE?

• Irradiation destroys harmful bacteria
• It slows spoilage, but some spoilage organisms
  remain
• Irradiation CANNOT improve poor quality food - it
  will still look, smell, feel, and taste spoiled

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Terry Stokes, CEONational Cattlemens Beef
AssociationMay 29, 2003

• Irradiation complements, but does not replace
  proper food handling and cooking practices, and
  the numerous testing and safeguard measures
  already in place.

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NUTRITIONAL SAFETY
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CRITICS RESPONSE TO

• A new technology called thermal radiation has
  been developed that improves both the texture and
  taste of some foods.
• The process also kills many known pathogens and
  extends the shelf life of some foods.
• Unfortunately, thermal radiation also reduces the
  vitamin content of some vegetables, produces some
  benzene in eggs, and causes a charcoal-like
  carcinogen on the surface of meat.
• Therefore this process, also known as ________,
  has been banned pending further studies.
• - Anonymous

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CRITICS RESPONSE TO

• A new technology called thermal radiation has
  been developed that improves both the texture and
  taste of some foods.
• The process also kills many known pathogens and
  extends the shelf life of some foods.
• Unfortunately, thermal radiation also reduces the
  vitamin content of some vegetables, produces some
  benzene in eggs, and causes a charcoal-like
  carcinogen on the surface of meat.
• Therefore this process, also known as Cooking,
  has been banned pending further studies.
• - Anonymous

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NUTRITIONAL QUALITY OF FOOD

• Very little change in nutritional quality at
  approved levels
• Some thiamin lost in pork
• Some vitamin A lost in eggs
• Similar losses compared with other processing
  methods cooking, canning

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IRRADIATED AND NON-IRRADIATED FROZEN GROUND BEEF
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IRRADIATED AND NON-IRRADIATED COOKED CHICKEN
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WHO ENDORSES FOOD IRRADIATION?

• American Medical Association
• American Dietetic Association
• American Veterinary Medical Ass.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
• U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
• World Health Organization
• Regulatory bodies in over 40 countries

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WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION

• Irradiated foods are safe and wholesome at any
  radiation dose.
• 1997

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TASTE
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HOW DOES IRRADIATED FOOD TASTE?

• Depends on treatment temp, packaging, presence of
  oxygen
• Raw meat and poultry may have a different odor -
  lost in cooking
• Poultry and pork can be more pink
• Little or no flavor differences in taste panels

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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
http//www.cdc.gov/U.S. Food and Drug
Administrationhttp//www.fda.gov/American
Dietetic Associationhttp//www.eatright.org/
FOR MORE INFORMATION
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What about 2-ACBs?

• 2-alkylcyclobutanone (2-ACBs) Compounds found
  in irradiated foods by a German scientist
  (unpublished study)
• Reliability of this unpublished study were
  questionable (assays not reliable)
• Other studies (World Health Organization, 2003)
• Low to undetectable levels
• No adverse effects
• Compounds rapidly metabolized in body
• Pose no health risks

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Does Irradiation cause cancer in children?

• Indian study of 5 starving children
• Study methods not well documented
• Reported extra chromosomes among children eating
  irradiated wheat
• Chromosomes - not a precursors to cancer
• Findings not duplicated in animal studies