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This is from the Coles of West Wind Farm:

It's said that history repeats itself. Nearly a century after heat

pasteurization of milk began, pasteurization by irradiation began for meat.

Several years ago, the food safety division of USDA approved the euphamistic

" cold pasteurization " of uncooked meat and poultry " to reduce levels of

foodborne pathogens, as well as extending shelf-life " . Sound familiar?

Attempting to stem the tide of consumer reaction to food-borne illness from

contaminated meat and poultry, the meat industry has found in cold

pasteurization by radiation a way to continue pushing tons of meat through

their systems each hour without changing the procedures that actually cause

the contamination. Irradiation provides a perk for the industry too - meat

that would normally have to be moved to the quick-sale cooler compartment

now stays unnaturally fresh for weeks, just like ultra-pasteurized milk!

Consumers have been concerned about irradiation of meat and have not

accepted it. Currently irradiated meat must be labeled with the " radura "

symbol so consumers have the information necessary to make their choice at

the supermarket. However, on September 18, the American Meat Institute, an

industry group representing meat packers and processors, petitioned USDA for

approval to irradiate beef carcasses as a " processing aid " . Because

processing aids are not required to be labeled on products, no label would

be required for meat from irradiated beef carcasses.

As usual, big industry lobbies for the regulations that put band-aids on

their problems. Once implemented, those regulations apply to all members of

the industry, including small meat processors who generally produce safe

meat products. It is likely that mandatory irradiation is only a few years

away, and clean meat from small, family-owned meat processors will have to

be irradiated just as contaminated meat from large mega-packers will.

Without any doubt, this will put small butcher houses out of business.

Irradiation is not an affordable option. And worst of all, it's not needed.

Consumer outrage at the incidence of contaminated foods from the industry is

justified. However, we, as consumers, can unintentionally fuel the passage

of irresponsible and unnecessary regulation when we are not specific about

the type of solution we want. Do we want the meat industry to continue

practices that contaminate meat and then allow them to kill all the bacteria

(both healthful and pathogenic bacteria) before it hits our table, or, do we

want clean, healthy meat that is not contaminated to start with? Do we want

meat irradiation to apply industry-wide, or just to those businesses that

have indicated through testing that they have a problem? Should they be

allowed to use it indefinitely, or only temporarily until they can fix the

source of their problem? Do we want a sterile food system, devoid of all the

healthful bacteria that we need to thrive? Submit your written comments on

this issue through the federal eRulemaking Portal, at www.regulations.gov,

or forward them to us for submittal. Comments must be received by USDA by

October 18.