Investors view irradiation as risk management tool
“The impetus is due to the 66 recalls for listeria or E. coli-contaminated beef, pork, and poultry in 2002, totaling approximately 60 million pounds of meat or nearly three times as much as in the prior year,” McLellan said.
Financial investors’ interest in food irradiation is a new development, as recent as the last six months, based on inquires received at the Institute of Food Sciences & Engineering. McLellan says that the 2002 recalls of 27 million pounds of product cost $81 million, not including litigation costs.