Nebraska Meat Firm Will Use Irradiation

Omaha Steaks of Omaha, Neb., announced Nov. 17 that it would be using irradiation on its ground beef products to guard against harmful bacteria such as E. coli.

Omaha officials said both Springdale-based Tyson Foods Inc. and Minnesota-based Cargill Inc., which has operations in Springdale, had already committed to using SureBeam technology. SureBeam offers the electronic pasteurization technology developed by The Titan Corp. of San Diego, Calif.

Tyson spokesman Ed Nicholson said the company was “still in the [research and development] phase of our irradiation efforts, identifying which products will go to market, how they will be branded, and into which test markets they will be placed.”

“No irradiated product has gone to market yet, and, as of yet, we’ve still not identified which markets will receive them.”

Omaha Steaks is a mail-order and food service company that specializes in steaks and other frozen gourmet foods. It has been considering irradiation since the federal government approved its use in February.

A voluntary recall by Omaha Steaks of about 11 tons of ground beef last month because of possible E. coli contamination had no direct bearing on the decision to use irradiation, spokeswoman Sharon Bargas said.

Irradiation will not change the taste of its ground beef, Omaha Steaks said, and irradiated products will be labeled to show that they have been treated.