Meat + Poultry - November 2010 - 79

IRRADIATION

Third-party irradiator
Consumer acceptance
of irradiated fruits,
ingredients bodes well
for the future of meat and
poultry applications
Food Technology Service Inc. (FTSI),
organized as a Florida corporation on
Dec. 11, 1985, owns and operates an irradiation facility in Mulberry, Fla., that
treats food and non-food products using
gamma radiation produced by Cobalt 60.
FTSI treats or sterilizes various food
and non-food items for insect disinfestations, shelf-life
extension and reduction of microorganisms.
Commonly sterilized products
include medical
products, cosmetics and toiletHunter
ries, packaging,
laboratory equipment, herbs and spices, produce, meat and poultry, ingredients and animal feeds. FTSI opened in
January 1992.
Dr. Richard Hunter, president and
CEO of FTSI since September, 2001,
says the volume of irradiated meat and
poultry products has been stable for
FTSI in recent years.
"We treat more than 12 million lbs.
of meat and poultry annually," he adds.
"Most meat irradiation work is done for
a large Midwest retail customer. We occasionally get inquiries from foodservice folks, but most inquiries are coming from the processors or distributors.
Perhaps there has been a small amount
of growth, but inquiries have been increasing and some of this has to do with
the non-Shiga E. coli issues that are
starting to be discussed - and some of
them have to do with the HACCP validation proposals that are now floating
around at USDA."
The bigger food irradiation development is related to treating exotic fruits
for phytosanitary reasons. "Exotic fruits

are really interesting in terms of the
quality, flavors and foods people haven't
seen before, such as Indian mangoes and
Thai mangosteens," Hunter says. "Although they are irradiated in the country
of origin, the entry of such exotic fruits
into the US market is allowing irradiated foods to become more established
in some supermarkets.
"This increases consumer confidence in understanding the food-irradiation process," he adds. "As this continues, more people will see irradiated
products, eat them and fi nd they're really good products. In turn, this will
have benefits for meat and poultry irradiation in the future."
Irradiation interest has also picked up
from spice companies or users of spice
because of what recently happened with
contaminated spice used in some meat
products. "This is an area that seems
to be increasing significantly in interest," he says.
Foods are not the only products commonly irradiated in the US. Walk down
any health-care aisle in a grocery store
and it will be well stocked with gammairradiated health-care items.
Gamma irradiation is also the predominant technology for sterlizing single-use medical devices. "It's a process
used day in and day out worldwide with
a great safety record and great results,"
Hunter says.

Irradiation challenges
Don't look to Hunter to blame consumer uneasiness as an excuse for irradiation technology's popularity stalling. "I think we're way past that," he
says. "One challenge relates to cost.
Food irradiation costs are volumedriven, but we charge from three to
seven cents a lb.
"It's a very competitive industry
and the cost of irradiation itself is quite
reasonable," he adds. "Transportation
costs are also an issue for processors
because there aren't many food irradiators around. So you get into this
(Continued on Page 76)

74 * Meat&Poultry * November 2010 * www.MeatPoultry.com

Today, Food Technology Services Inc.,
Mulberry, Fla., and Sadex, Sioux City,
Iowa, are the country's two main irradiation service providers. (Photo courtesy
of Sadex)

produce. "Mangoes from India and
Mexico, guavas from Mexico, lychee
and rambutan from Thailand, various items from Vietnam, purple sweet
potatoes from Hawaii and several domestically grown items are arriving

"Omaha Steaks and
Schwan's irradiate
100 percent of
their raw ground
beef items and
have done so
since 2000."
at supermarkets daily," Eustice says.
"The annual volume of irradiated
produce exceeds 30 million lbs. and
has tripled since 2008."

A 'non-issue'
Consumer acceptance is a non-issue
in the minds of those who are actively marketing irradiated food items,
Eustice claims. "The sale and construction of irradiators are being actively promoted by Canadian-based

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