Dow Jones Interactive

Supermarkets Test Appetite for Irradiated Meat
By Patricia Callahan

11/07/2002
The Wall Street Journal
B1
(Copyright (c) 2002, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

GIANT FOOD INC., an East Coast grocery chain, is running an unusual ad campaign this week: "Introducing Irradiated Fresh Ground Beef."

"The next generation in meats" is what Hy-Vee Inc., a chain of more than 200 Midwest supermarkets, calls its new irradiated, fresh ground beef. On the East Coast, several chains -- including D'Agostino Supermarkets, Pathmark Stores Inc., Price Chopper and Clemens Family Markets -- have introduced irradiated fresh ground beef in the last six weeks. Albertson's Inc. plans today to launch irradiated fresh ground beef at about 250 Jewel supermarkets in the Midwest. And Publix Super Markets Inc. says it expects to carry frozen irradiated meat early next year in its 725 stores across the South.

Regulators approved the use of irradiation -- a process that uses electron beams or gamma rays to zap dangerous pathogens found in foods -- for spices 40 years ago, and they have gradually expanded the list of approved foods, clearing raw red meat in 2000. But touting irradiation has remained a marketing taboo. The word often reminds consumers of bomb shelters. In the past, some supermarkets quietly introduced irradiated meat, only to find it languishing on their shelves.

In the wake of two of the largest meat recalls in U.S. history, however, irradiated beef is becoming one of the hottest trends in the meat case. Supermarkets are betting that a rash of illnesses and deaths from meat contaminated with strains of E.coli and listeria bacteria will make the product more palatable to consumers.

In advertisements in the Baltimore and Washington, D.C., areas, Giant Food, a unit of Dutch food retailer Ahold NV, says, "This revolutionary technology virtually eliminates all illness-causing bacteria giving you peace of mind when serving ground beef to your friends and family."

Irradiating foods remains controversial despite assurances about the safety of the process from the World Health Organization, the American Medical Association, U.S. Food and Drug Administration and many other public-health groups. Legislators in New Jersey have tried unsuccessfully to put a moratorium on the sale of irradiated foods. Public Citizen, a Washington consumer-advocacy group, argues that too little is known about the long-term effects of irradiation. The group says since the process kills bacteria, it gives meatpackers a disincentive to keep their meat free of manure, in which E. coli live.

Proponents of irradiation, like Larry Oberkfell, chief executive of San Diego-based SureBeam Corp., the nation's largest food-irradiation company, say the process has long been proven safe. "When you eliminate dangerous bacteria, you reduce the number of people who can get sick," he says. "It's definitely a way to save lives."

Food that has been irradiated must be labeled "treated with radiation" or "treated by irradiation" and must bear the international symbol for irradiation, known as the radura. (Foods that contain minor ingredients, such as irradiated spices, do not have to carry the label.)

Food-industry groups, concerned the labels look like a warning, have pushed for innocuous-sounding alternatives, such as "electronically pasteurized." This year's farm bill directed government regulators to revise the labeling rules, although no new wording has yet been determined.

Whether irradiated meat will catch on with shoppers in the aftermath of this year's recalls remains unclear. About 20 shoppers nibbled samples of irradiated hamburgers offered at a suburban Milwaukee Pick `n Save over the course of an hour yesterday morning, and a few bought the ground beef. Wanda Antoniak, a 44-year-old homemaker, initially was skeptical. "I hope we don't start glowing in the dark after we have a cheeseburger," she joked as she ate a burger. But after reading a pamphlet on the safety benefits, she and her teenage daughter picked up a pound.

Another shopper, Tiffney Grumbo, turned up her nose at the sample, saying she is leery of ground beef after her four-year-old son contracted a food-borne illness last summer. The irradiation didn't boost her confidence. "I know they're trying to get consumers back," she said. "But after the recalls, I just don't feel good about beef."

Meatpacking companies, which typically ship the product to an irradiation facility for treatment, have tested the appetite for irradiated beef before. Shortly after introducing irradiated frozen hamburger patties in 2000, B & R Stores Inc. stopped carrying them when a group opposed to irradiation threatened to stage protests at the Lincoln, Neb., chain's supermarkets. "We wanted to avoid the bad publicity," says Pat Raybould, president of the family-owned grocer.

The company reintroduced the patties at its 16 Super Saver and Russ's Market stores when the furor died down several months later. But four stores dropped them for lack of sales. Today they make up less than 2% of the chain's hamburger-patty sales. "Consumers say, `Today they tell you there's nothing wrong with them. The question is what about 10 years from today?"' says Floyd Neiswanger, the company's meat director.

In the Northeast, Price Chopper carried irradiated frozen patties in 2000, only to discontinue them about a year later when consumers didn't bite. "People didn't reach for something they didn't understand," says Mona Golub, a spokeswoman for Price Chopper, a unit of family-owned Golub Corp., Schenectady, N.Y. "You need to educate people about its benefits."

When Price Chopper introduced irradiated fresh ground beef last month, the chain's ads pitched it as "the safest ground beef you can buy," offering a coupon for one pound free. Large posters near the meat case offered a Q&A on irradiation, and store workers gave shoppers cooked samples of irradiated meatballs.

One hurdle for marketers is price. Meatpackers offering irradiated beef pass on the cost to supermarkets. To recoup that cost, some supermarkets are charging a premium. At Price Chopper, a one-pound package of 80% lean irradiated beef costs $1.99, 20 cents more than the conventional kind.

Even a national restaurant chain is joining the experiment. International Dairy Queen Inc., a unit of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., test-marketed irradiated burgers in two central-Minnesota stores last February, expanded to about 60 stores and plans to offer them in 120 of its Minnesota fast-food joints by year-end.

Although restaurants aren't required to tell customers their burgers have been irradiated, Dairy Queen let its customers know through menu signs, tray liners and brochures at the drive-through window. Burger sales stayed level, while costs increased 1.2 cents per patty, says Dairy Queen spokesman Dean Peters. But many Dairy Queen restaurant operators, wary of meat recalls, were eager to join the experiment. "They were saying, `I'm able to sleep at night,"' Mr. Peters says.