The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that the food irradiation company SureBeam Corp. cannot claim that its process is similar to pasteurization.

The company was responding to allegations by consumer advocacy group Public Citizen that its pasteurization claims were false and misleading. The group had asked the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate SureBeam and several other companies.

After being shown SureBeam's claims in the Reuters Health story, USDA deputy administrator Philip Derfler wrote to Public Citizen, saying that SureBeam had not provided the federal agency with "data proving that their irradiated meat and poultry products are, in fact, 'pasteurized.'"

Irradiation involves exposing foods to ionizing radiation in order to kill pathogens such as E. coli and salmonella. The technology is approved for use on a range of foods including meat, poultry, fruits and vegetables. Pasteurization kills pathogens by exposing them to heat.

On the company's Web site, SureBeam describes its technique as "electronic pasteurization." Public Citizen has complained that the term is misleading because it means nothing to consumers. It and other health and environmental groups have in the past taken stands against food irradiation because they believe the safety of the process is unproven.

Public Citizen said the FTC asked two other companies, Omaha Steaks and Huisken Meats, to change their Web sites and promotional material to remove terms such as "pasteurized" and to include "irradiation." Those two companies promptly responded, said Mark Worth, a Public Citizen researcher.

Reuters Washington, October 8, 2001