SureBeam Irradiation Facility - Something to Hide?

[Guest guest]

SureBeam Irradiation Facility - Something to Hide?

 

May 7, 2003 Contact: Patty Lovera (202) 454-5132

Erica Hartman

(202) 454-5174

NEWS ALERT

 

Consumer Organization Barred from Touring Food Irradiation Facility

With Other Conference Attendees

 

CHICAGO - Organizers of an international conference on food

irradiation barred a Public Citizen staff member from touring an

irradiation facility today, despite the fact that the tour was a

conference activity. A staff member of the national consumer advocacy

group has participated in other parts of the conference, which was

organized by Michigan State University.

 

The tour of SureBeam Corp.'s irradiation facility in the Chicago

suburb

of Glendale Heights was included on the official agenda of the First

World Congress on Food Irradiation. Promotional materials for the

conference specifically included consumer groups in " Who Should

Attend. "

But when a Public Citizen staff member signed up for the event, he

was

told he could not attend. Organizers told him this was due

to " requests

for increased security and corporate confidentiality " by SureBeam.

 

" Suggesting that we are security threat is ridiculous and

insulting, " said Wenonah Hauter, director of Public Citizen's

Critical

Mass Energy and Environment Program. " If this facility cannot

withstand

public scrutiny, what are they hiding? This smacks of

discrimination. "

 

In their promotional materials, SureBeam often tells consumers

that their process is no more involved than a microwave they would

use

in their home. " If the process is as harmless as they say, why can't

we

go see it? " Hauter said.

 

Irradiation uses ionizing radiation that alters the molecular

structure of food in an attempt to kill pathogens and insects. The

process can destroy nutrients, change the taste, smell and

appearance of

food, and produce new chemical compounds, some of which have been

found

to promote cancer development and cause genetic and cellular damage

in

rats and human cells.

 

SureBeam, a company spun off from a San Diego-based defense

contractor, has struggled to promote its technology to consumers and

government regulators and has lost $113 million since 1997. SureBeam

has been an outspoken advocate for labeling irradiated foods as

" pasteurized, " although that is a distinctly different process that

uses

rapid heating and cooling to partially sterilize liquid products,

namelymilk. The company also has tried to mislead consumers by

comparing

irradiation to microwaving.

 

In 2001, SureBeam began building its Glendale Heights

irradiation facility without receiving necessary air permits from the

state. The company applied for a permit to release ozone into the air

only after the state agency ordered it to do so, under pressure from

a local citizens group.

###

Public Citizen is a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C.

that advocates for consumer protection, and for government and

corporate accountability. Please visit www.citizen.org/cmep.

 

http://www.organicconsumers.org/irrad/surebeam050803.cfm