FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 18, 2001
BEEF COUNCIL EXECUTIVE LEADS THE FIGHT TO MAKE GROUND BEEF ONE OF AMERICA’S SAFEST FOODS
Food Irradiation Is His Weapon
Columbia, SC—When Ron Eustice became the Minnesota Beef Council’s Executive Director, a dozen years ago he had absolutely no idea he was about to launch a revolution.
Eustice is hardly a revolutionary in the traditional sense. He grew up on a crop and livestock farm, graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in Agricultural Journalism and has held a variety of positions with food and agricultural companies.
Eustice hopes that the battle he is helping to wage will defeat food borne disease that claims the lives of an estimated 5200 Americans annually and sickens another 76 million in the US alone. “We have the world’s safest food supply,” says Eustice, “but 14 people die every day from food borne diseases, and unfortunately a significant number of those deaths involve children.” According to Eustice, most food borne illness is easily prevented. “We have the technology to stop this curse that costs our country as much as $37 billion annually in medical costs and lost wages,” he adds. Eustice is quick to add that about 85% of food borne illness is linked to fresh fruits and raw vegetables, but the meat recalls get media coverage. “That’s why we want to make ground beef one of the safest foods on the dinner table,” says Eustice.
The weapon Eustice is using to wage war on deadly bacteria such as E. coli O157:H7 and others is food irradiation. He will be sharing his knowledge and interest in irradiation of beef with South Carolina beef producers, at the request of the South Carolina Beef Council, during the South Carolina Cattlemen’s Convention in Clemson on Friday, October 26. The idea of irradiated foods is not new. Scientists have known for decades that exposing food to x-rays, high-energy electrons, or cobalt-60 could kill deadly bacteria. While some consumers have been wary of irradiated foods—largely because of unfounded fear mongering hawked by activists opposing the use of nuclear energy—many irradiated products have become commonplace, not only in the US, but in 42 other countries. Commercial spices used as ingredients in ready-to-eat foods, for example, have been irradiated to kill pests and other contaminants for over a decade. Of course, the real pioneers are our astronauts who have been eating irradiated food since the early 1970’s.
Eustice says Minnesota has been the focal point as the demand for irradiated ground beef spreads nationwide. Last year, Minnesota consumers got the nation’s first taste of electronically irradiated ground beef products. And, from all indications, they like what they ate.
It was June 2000 when Huisken Meats of Chandler, MN introduced the first beef patties treated with electronic irradiation technology, –which uses the power of ordinary electricity to eliminate harmful foodborne pathogens such as E. coli, Listeria, Campylobacter, and Salmonella. Huisken teamed up with San Diego-based SureBeam Corporation, which provided the testing and technology to make the innovative form of irradiation possible.
“The Minnesota Beef Council began informing consumers about the benefits of irradiated ground beef nearly four years ago, and our efforts—like those of Huisken Meats--are paying off,” says Eustice.
In the eyes of those that market and produce the products and the technology behind it, educational efforts were a must if the product was to be accepted. “Research shows that education is the key to consumer acceptance of irradiated food products,” says Eustice. The educational blitz kicked off immediately with the retail debut of the patties, under the Huisken brand name, in 84 grocery stores in the Twin Cities area.
The initial rollout included sampling events, collateral informational materials, and a publicity campaign targeted to local media. Information focused on the fact that the patties were irradiated using electron beams generated from ordinary electricity, subsequently reducing potentially deadly pathogens without any changes in taste, flavor or texture. Torno notes that retailers are responding favorably to the notion of using high-energy electricity rather than radioactive materials—and so have consumers.
According to Ron Eustice, consumer reaction has been strong throughout the launch process. “Acceptance was very good, partly because all of the media attention given to it. Consumers indicated that they appreciated the flavor almost as much as the safety aspect. “We did a taste test in downtown Minneapolis, offering regular and irradiated hamburgers. No one could tell the difference,” He recalls. “People loved it and thought it tasted even better than other hamburgers.” Eustice credits a strong relationship with local media in helping spread the message to consumers about the food safety breakthrough.
Recently, Minnesota Beef Council staff under Eustice’s direction, began crisscrossing the nation touting the benefits of irradiation ground beef. Most recently they have traveled to Mississippi, Georgia and North Dakota. Friday October 26 beef producers in South Carolina will have a chance to learn and sample the irradiated beef patties.
The educational and marketing strategy in Minnesota has paid off with direct results. Three months after Huisken Meats introduced the first beef patties, distribution rose to 800 stores. Now consumers in 23 states can buy Huisken “BeSure” irradiated ground beef patties at the supermarket. In South Carolina, irradiated ground beef patties are most readily available from Schwan’s home delivery system and through companies such as Omaha Steaks.
Eustice, for one, believes that the strong acceptance of food irradiation is a reflection of the power of education. Research studies have consistently shown that the key to consumer acceptance of food irradiation is education. Since food irradiation was approved in the early 1960’s, there have been numerous studies on consumer understanding and acceptance of food irradiation. An early 1990’s study at Purdue University demonstrated that once consumers understand the food irradiation process, over 90 percent are willing to purchase foods processed with irradiation. A 1998 nationwide survey found that 80 percent of consumers would purchase food labeled “irradiated to destroy harmful bacteria.
Improved food safety clearly benefits South Carolina’s beef producers, as well as consumers nationwide,” said Eustice. “By helping to increase consumer knowledge and confidence in beef, we expand demand. Irradiated beef will do the beef industry what pasteurized milk did for the dairy industry a half century ago: improve quality and help stop the spread of food borne diseases,” according to Eustice.
Eustice will appear at the SC Cattlemen’s Association meeting at the Madren Center in Clemson on Friday, October 26, 2001. Irradiated beef, sponsored by the SC Beef Board, will be served for lunch.
For more information about food irradiation or the SC Beef Board, contact Jim Pooser at 803-734-9806 or email.