EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES: Electronic pasteurization of meat enters critical phase

By Steve Mogensen, Allied Development Corp.

Plagued by a number of incidents of illnesses, and even deaths, the U.S. meat industry has come under heavy fire to improve the safety of its products. The backlash against companies responsible for these health incidents is so strong that a company involved in future problems may find its own viability to be at risk. The desperately needed solution that appears to have the greatest chance of improving this situation is the process of meat irradiation, often referred to as electronic pasteurization.

In this process red meat and other food products are exposed to ionizing radiation (e.g., gamma rays, X-rays or accelerated electrons) at levels approved by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in order to kill the pathogenic organisms and reduce the number of spoilage organisms that may be present.

Government agencies, also feeling the pressure, have made it possible to use irradiation to electronically pasteurize red meat. Although other products, including poultry, spices and fruits and vegetables, had previously been approved for irradiation in the U.S. it was not until December 1997 that the FDA approved the use of irradiation for the electronic pasteurization of red meat. The U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) then produced a set of regulations, thus providing the final direction needed to begin commercialization.

Beef patties doing well
Commercially irradiated ground beef products have now been on the market for about three months, a critical first test of the concept. Industry participants so far have mixed comments regarding sales levels.

One person happy with the test market results is Spenser Stevens, vice president Key Accounts of SureBeam Corp., a division of Titan Corp. (San Diego, CA). According to Stevens, "the introduction of frozen ground beef patties from Huisken Meats of Chandler, MN, is going very well. The number of stores carrying the product has increased to greater than 1,000 since the introduction at almost 90 stores in the Minneapolis – St. Paul market on May 16. The product is also being sold in 48 states through Schwan's, and they are reporting a 20% increase in their beef patty sales."

SureBeam has a vested interest in Huisken's results, because SureBeam electronically pasteurizes Huisken's frozen ground beef patties. SureBeam performs the pasteurization in its new irradiation facility at Sioux City, Iowa, which is designed specifically for meat. At this facility the company can treat product by either electron beam or X-ray irradiation.

Packaging material void
There are many packaging implications related to the development of red meat irradiation. A number of steps were necessary just to make the current market tests possible, and there will undoubtedly be many changes in the future.

According to Harley Everett, executive vice president of Food Technology Service, a gamma irradiation service in Mulberry, FL, "The regulators have applied very strict standards and narrow rulings in the irradiation area. While this decision may be justified, it contributes to the void of packaging materials approved for use in combination with electronic pasteurization."

An example of the critical regulatory situation involves the wording of the regulation that controls packaging materials for irradiated foods — 21 CFR 179.45. Most of the materials approved in this regulation are only approved for gamma radiation to the exclusion of electron beam and X-ray irradiation. This may appear reasonable, but the three types of irradiation are treated equally in other instances. An important comparison involves regulation (21 CFR 179.26), the regulation that controls the irradiation of food. This regulation allows for the use of all three types of irradiation when irradiating food.

As a result, a group of 12 resin producers and packaging producers has funded a variety of work at the National Center for Food Safety and Technology (Summit-Argo, IL). Included in this work is the goal is to qualify more packaging materials for use with irradiation.

"A great deal of research exists to justify that the three types of irradiation are equivalent," says George Sadler, professor of food packaging at the Center. "I have filed a petition with the FDA requesting that any packaging material approved for gamma irradiation be accepted for electron beam and X-ray as well."

Sadler also plans to use the FDA's new Pre-Market Notification procedure for indirect food additives to qualify other materials. This procedure allows for the submission of support data to the FDA on a particular packaging material, and the corresponding right to use that packaging material in commerce 120 days after the submission, unless the FDA objects.

Fortunately the FDA granted a provisional allowance to use the packaging materials as petitioned for by Sadler until February 2001. By that time the hope is the petition itself will be approved.

"SureBeam's business strategy is to install and operate electronic pasteurization units in meat processing plants," says Stevens. "SureBeam plans to use electron beam where possible or X-ray if higher penetration is required. We don't plan to use gamma irradiation because we don't believe the radioactive source required for gamma will be acceptable or efficient in a meat processing plant." Sadler's work is necessary to make this possible.

Consumer-ready packages
If meat processors begin to implement electronic pasteurization, the process will require that consumer-ready packages be prepared at the meat processing facility. This is because part of the pasteurization strategy is to irradiate the package after the package is closed and for the package to remain closed until it reaches the consumer. This eliminates any chance of recontamination in the distribution system once the package is pasteurized. For ground beef the concept of creating consumer packages at central processing facilities is known as "case-ready" packaging. If accepted, irradiation could catalyze an already growing move towards a case-ready system of meat delivery.

For ground beef this could eliminate the use of chubb packaging. Currently most ground beef is stuffed into plastic barrier casings. These chubb packages range up to 20 pounds and are shipped to retail and Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional ("HRI") destinations. At retail outlets the ground beef is typically repackaged with a foam tray and PVC film into a one- or two-pound consumer package.

There has been a great deal of effort expended to bring irradiated ground beef products to market, but that does not guarantee success. The reaction of consumers will be extremely important in the short term. Some expect consumer attitudes towards irradiated products to be very negative. According to Everett, "if you compare the current situation to the start of milk pasteurization it is hard to be optimistic about consumer acceptance of irradiated meat without public education or possibly governmental intervention. Consumers never really accepted pasteurization of milk until regulations were passed requiring all milk to be pasteurized."

Cost is justified
Cost estimates to irradiate ground beef vary but are usually a few pennies per pound of meat. Assuming the U.S. ground beef market is 7 billion pounds, an irradiation cost of $0.05/lb equates to an additional cost of $350 million dollars. However, many industry participants believe the cost is justified, because so much money is spent on healthcare for those who become ill from eating non-pasteurized meat.

The film market for meats is one of the largest flexible packaging segments with over $1 billion dollars worth of films involved. It is possible the implementation of irradiation pasteurization will change this market dramatically.

For more information:
Food Technology Service, Harley Everett, Tel: 863-425-0039
SureBeam Corp., Spencer Stevens, Tel: 402-390-0141
National Center for Food Safety and Technology, George Sadler, Tel: 708-563-8170

About the Author: Steve Mogensen is vice president of sales and marketing for Allied Development Corp., a Lakeville, MN, company that provides a variety of services to the packaging industry aimed at helping companies improve their revenue. Mr. Mogensen joined the startup company in 1996 after more than 20 years experience as a business and technology executive for Viskase Corp., Rexam PLC and the Graphic Packaging Division of ACX Technologies Inc. A Registered Professional Engineer, Mr. Mogensen has a B.S. in Engineering from the University of Illinois and an MBA from the University of Chicago/Lewis University. He can be reached at Tel: 952-898-1832 or Email: sam@allied-dev.com.

Mr. Mogensen can be reached at: Allied Development Corp., 17689 Lake Oak Circle, Lakeville, MN 55044, Tel: 952-898-1832, Fax: 952-898-2242, Email: sam@allied-dev.com, Website: www.allied-dev.com.

Editor's Note: PackagingNetwork.com welcomes Steve Mogensen as a regular contributor. His "Emerging Technologies" articles will offer insight into technology trends occurring in the packaging industry. Look for his column each month.