Irradiated ground beef

Shnookie · Post by **Shnookie** » Thu Mar 16, 2017 11:48 am

There's an article in the Western Producer that says Health Canada has approved irradiation of ground beef. It says "After a series of assessments, the department determined it is safe and does not significantly alter the nutritional quality." It doesn't say it DOES NOT alter the nutritional quality. It says irradiation is "a process in which food products are exposed to a radiant energy such as gamma rays, electron beams, or x-rays to kill harmful bacteria such as E. coli 0157:H7, campylobacter and salmonella. The process also can control insects and parasites, reduce spoilage, and inhibit ripening and sprouting." It's done in a shielded room. It is costly to install, and CFIA has regulatory concerns. Canada already allows irradiation to treat potatoes, onions, wheat, flour, whole wheat flour and spices.

Labelling laws require that irradiated foods include labelling with either the statement "treated with radiation" or "treated by radiation" and the international symbol for irradiation, the radura (a green and white round symbol with a circle and two leaves inside).

The US approved it for wheat, potatoes, spices, fruits, vegetables, ground beef, pork, and poultry. The EU does not allow it.
Sales of irradiated ground beef in the US have been low because it retails for about 10 cents more a pound. "There is no indication from the US that it has been a big success." Apparently the ground beef looks grayish. They say the process is used to remove salmonella and ecoli. The article says the food is not sterile, but it also extends the shelf life. Sounds unhealthy and a waste of time to me. More reasons to buy local.

Are you going to eat it? I'm not. I wonder if it will glow in the dark?

Ontario Chick · Post by **Ontario Chick** » Thu Mar 16, 2017 4:06 pm

OK, so let me get this straight, they couldn't ensure that the animals are healthy and clean in the stock yards and the feed isn't contaminated garbage, and the slaughterhouses aren't monitored and the packaging plants couldn't be kept clean and the food couldn't be sold before it spoilt, so irradiation is the answer?
Frankly it sounds way too expensive and complicated, why don't we just eat any old trash the multinationals want to sell to us and get just irradiated at the end of the day, and be done with it? Sort of like person sized microwave beside every fridge?

Farrier1987 · Post by **Farrier1987** » Thu Mar 16, 2017 8:17 pm

Scientifically, it is a good thing. Kills possible germs like ecoli that can be present in the butchering process. No matter how careful you are, contamination can happen. It shouldn't, but it can, so for public safety, I think irradiation is a good thing. Like chlorine in my drinking water. Do I need it for water from my spring? Probably not. But when we do things for urban areas in such high volumes, it is better than the alternatives. (search Walkerville)

I do not pasteurize my goats milk. One goat, me drinking it, I see (mostly) if there is a health problem. But if I had 200 goats for a commercial operation, I could not give 200 animals the same attention I do one, and I am still taking a chance of unknowingly getting come bacteria passed on to me with that one. If I must buy milk from a commercial sized operation, which I would have to do in an urban setting, then I want it pasteurized.

Bring on the abuse and brickbats for me holding these opinions. Its what I think.

Post by **Killerbunny** » Fri Mar 17, 2017 5:21 pm

Sorry but I think it's a bad idea - it just allows the big plants to get more sloppy. One microbiologist after the Excel fiasco said it was the consumers who were the problem because they wouldn't cook meat properly. He should have had his title stripped IMO!
Oh yes and it looks like our slaughterhouse may have just shut up shop - NOOOOOOOO. Anyone who went to the PTO Picnik knows about his ground beef.

Ontario Chick · Post by **Ontario Chick** » Fri Mar 17, 2017 5:53 pm

Mad cow disease came to mind immediately, I assume the irradiation is coming eventually, whatever our opinion on it may be now,
But You can bet your boots the big plants will get even sloppier then they were before, because they will figure it doesn't matter it's all going to get caught at the end of the line.
I personally do not like to have

included in my hamburger, natural or irradiated .
The slow disappearance of the small local abattoirs and butchers has started in the Seventies and has been a continuous problem for the small farmers.
I can't even count how many times thru the last 40 years we have watched it happen and after the local abattoirs go the small farmers die out by attrition. It's hard enough to transport livestock to be processed, without it being several hour drive.

Post by **WLLady** » Fri Mar 17, 2017 6:48 pm

Have to say i agree with farrier on this one. Irradiating just kills anything living in or on the meat. It doesnt change the meat any more than cooking does. But sorry to say, irradiation will not "kill" the prion proteins behind mad cow disease.
Prions can only be denatured by high concentration of base at extreme temperatures. That goes for scrapie, mad cow, cjd etc. The proteins are very resistant to everything. Even bleach does not kill prions.
I fear that some people think irradiation makes the meat radioactive because of misinformation. The irradiation shoots high energy particles like xrays or gamma rays through the meat and it breaks the dna in living things. I wish it didnt have to be done but if it saves people from getting salmonella or e coli poisoning its a good thing i think. Just a shame that it has to happen because the process is not clean to begin with.

LongCrow · Post by **LongCrow** » Fri Mar 17, 2017 7:47 pm

Instead of spending all of humanities efforts on sterilizing everything we consume we should be strengthening the human genome to withstand more adversity. The truth is humans are becoming one of the weakest creatures on this planet. We're setting ourselves up for extermination through intellectual stupidity.

Humans have survived to this point because of our natural ability to adapt and overcome adversity whether biological or chemical. It is not unusual to build up a natural immunity to many so-called harmful entities if you given enough time.

If we were more immune there would be no need to irradiate our food sources, PERIOD.

Post by **Home Grown Poultry** » Fri Mar 17, 2017 8:06 pm

I like my steak well done, my burger slightly juicy and my roast slow cooked until it falls apart, no chance any bad things are surviving that. No blood on my plate thank you very much! if I want it irradiated I'll pop it in the microwave. Ever microwaved ground beef? It turns grey... so how are they guna sell this to the public? Oh yes the blood bath or the red dye number 40 or both?

Remember its approved for human consumption and is one of the last things that should be consumed. Hard to trust a system that allows poison in our food.

Well, thats about all I have to say about that.

JimW · Post by **JimW** » Fri Mar 17, 2017 8:32 pm

I agree it would be better if we did not have to irradiate our meat, same with pasteurizing milk but these techniques are put in place to help decrease potential for illness for the "masses", the general, uneducated, those who do not care public. I consider most of the people on PTO to not be in that category of people when it comes to food knowledge, so many here are probably against the idea and feel it is unnecessary.

I have not lived in another country, only traveled a bit, but getting information from my close family member who use to work for the CFIA and now works for Health Canada (both probably considered "enemies" to some on here. lol) I know our Canadian food system has flaws, but I will take our system over many others around the world.

JimW

Post by **Killerbunny** » Sat Mar 18, 2017 6:43 am

I like my steak bloody AL!!!
One of the problems with steak is when they do the needle tenderising process and move bacteria from outside to inside. Then you have a problem. An aged steak cooked on the outside should be safe. I don't even feel it's always that the consumer is ignorant but the stores misinform people. The SUperstore now boasts of it's CORNFED beef - really? On the TV the expert was showing how bright red your steak should be so you know it's fresh! No it's been wiped down with hydrogen peroxide to brighten the colour.