Irradiated ground beef may soon be sold in Canadian grocery stores, as Health Canada is pushing for regulatory changes in the name of improved food safety.
According to the agency’s website, proposed amendments would add fresh and frozen raw ground beef to foods already permitted to go through radiation treatment – with the purpose of allowing beef producers to “improve the safety of their products.”
Health Canada spokesperson Maryse Durette said, however, that irradiated ground beef would not be sold before the end of the summer season at the earliest. The proposed changes, too, would not require the beef industry to use the treatment.
Irradiation involves exposing food to controlled amounts of ionizing radiation from gamma rays, X-rays or electron beams, destroying microbes or rendering them unable to reproduce. Irradiating fresh or frozen ground beef is expected to reduce levels of pathogenic bacteria such as E-coli, which often lead to food poisoning.
For more than a decade now, industry groups have sought irradiation to prevent the spread of E.coli and other harmful bacteria, but the public has, for the most part, reacted less favorably.
At present, only potatoes, onions, flour and wheat, whole and ground spices, and dehydrated seasonings are approved for irradiation for sale in the country.
“I think public perception has changed. When we ask Canadians if they think they should be able to purchase irradiated beef, they’re accepting of it,” explained Mark Klassen, technical services director of Alberta-based Canadian Cattlemen’s Association.
Concerns about eating irradiating foods revolve around the potential depletion of nutrients and the creation of byproducts such as free radicals and toxic compounds like benzene. Critics also emphasize the lack of long-term studies, particularly among humans, on the safety of these treated food products.
Health Canada, however, is one with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and some 60 countries that have endorsed irradiated food’s safety based on over four decades of research.
The largest meat recall situation in the history of Canada was centered on E.coli linked to beef, which sickened 18 people in British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec, and Newfoundland and Labrador back in 2012.
Once approved, irradiated ground beef would need to be clearly labeled just like other irradiated products. Pre-packaged foods that have been completely irradiated are compelled to display the international irradiation symbol, alongside a statement like “treated by irradiation.”
There will be a period for public comment on the proposed regulations, according to the Health Canada site.
Photo: USDA | Flickr
