July 11, 2011

 

AMI disappointed at US FSIS decision on irradiated meat labels

 

 

The president of the American Meat Institute Foundation (AMI) has expressed disappointment at the US Food Safety and Inspection Service's (FSIS) denial of a petition to permit the use of low-dose irradiation on carcasses to reduce microbial contamination.

 

The rejection of the industry lobby group's "Citizens Petition to Recognize the Use of E-beam on Carcasses as a Processing Aid" keeps in place a roadblock to the improved safety of meat and poultry products, said AMI president Jim Hodges.

 

AMI submitted the petition five years ago, hoping that FSIS would deem the technology a processing aid and thereby eliminate a requirement to use labelling that has proved to make consumers queasy about irradiated meat.

 

"FSIS cites technical reasons for the denial of AMI's petition to treat carcass irradiation as a processing aid, when the petition simply asked FSIS to initiate the process of making a labelling policy change to encourage the use of irradiation technology," Hodges said.

 

Such technical issues would have been resolved during the rulemaking process, he said, adding that AMI will continue to work with FSIS to resolve labelling questions related to irradiated meat.

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