Consumers to Learn About Irradiated Beef

With funding from America’s beef producers through their $1-per-head checkoff, 250 American National CattleWomen, Inc. (ANCW) volunteers will be conducting educational demonstrations across the country emphasizing food safety, nutrition and awareness of irradiated ground beef during the coming year.

The education program is the result of a proposal approved by the Beef Promotion Operating Committee for fiscal 2004, which began Oct. 1. The goal of the program is to deliver accurate, science-based information about irradiation to consumers, to help them in making educated decisions about food safety for themselves and their families.

This year, for example, USDA gave public school officials in the nation’s 93,000 schools the option to offer 25 million children irradiated ground beef in school lunch programs. Parents, teachers, school administrators and foodservice personnel will be asking the question, “Should we serve irradiated ground beef in our school?” Volunteers with ANCW will be there to answer questions they might have about irradiation as they make those decisions for themselves.