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Research at IIT's National Center gives consumers the choice of safer beef

CHICAGO, March 3, 2000- For the first time consumers will be able to choose ground beef and pork irradiated to destroy harmful bacteria like E. coli, thanks to packaging research at the National Center for Food Safety and Technology (National Center) on the Moffett campus of the Illinois Institute of Technology.

Irradiation is the only practical method proven to destroy E. coli in raw hamburger and Listeria in ready-to-eat lunch meat. These bacteria have caused widespread illness and death among U.S. consumers. Irradiated meat has not been available--even though the federal government approved irradiation in December--because the packaging in which meat is irradiated also needs to be approved. That's where research at IIT's National Center completes the picture.

George Sadler, professor of food packaging at the National Center, led a team that identified packaging in which meat can be irradiated safely.

"The National Center was working on irradiation when it seemed to be a dead issue," National Center Director Dr. Charles Sizer stated. "We always felt this was a technology that had the potential to save lives. Not everyone wants irradiated beef, but now consumers have a choice."

Sadler and Sizer are available for interviews regarding the packaging material used for irradiated meats.

Sadler's research expands the possibilities for commercial irradiation, and was used to support a petition to the FDA that will expand the range of packaging materials that may be used with meat irradiation. The result is safer meat for consumers.

The National Center is the one place in the United States where scientists from FDA, the food industry and academia work cooperatively to analyze, test and study new approaches for assuring and improving the safety of the food supply. This neutral ground fosters a free exchange of information, breaking the traditional barriers between these sectors.

Illinois Institute of Technology is a private, Ph.D.-granting university with programs in engineering, science, psychology, architecture, business, design and law. IIT is also the home of the Chicago Kent Law School, Stuart Graduate School of Business, and the Institute of Design in Chicago's Loop.

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