In January 2004, irradiated ground beef will be available to school districts who want to order the meat for their school lunch programs.

Irradiation involves using electron or gamma rays to destroy microorganisms that may cause food poisoning, such as E. coli and salmonella.

Dan Henroid, extension families specialist for the Department of Hotel, Restaurant and Institution Management, said when the irradiated meat becomes available, Iowa school districts won’t be participating.

“It has nothing to do with the controversy,” Henroid said. “It’s about dollars and cents. Irradiated meat costs 13 to 20 cents more per pound than non-irradiated meat.”

Iowa State has been researching irradiation for 10 years. There is an irradiation machine on campus in the Meat Laboratory.

James Dickson, professor and chair of microbiology, has researched irradiated meat at Iowa State. He said very little radiation is involved in the process and it is similar to pasteurized milk or chlorinated water.

“I have no reservations of the technology or its effects,” Dickson said. “However, the public is unsure.”

Dickson said he believes offering irradiated meat in the school lunch program is a good idea, but students who don’t want to eat irradiated meat wouldn’t have a choice.

Joseph Sebranek, professor of animal science, is currently researching combining treatments together to extend the shelf life of meat.

“Irradiation is added insurance,” Sebranek said. “It takes care of mistakes consumers might make.”

Sebranek said the future of irradiation is hard to predict. He said he believes people need to be educated about the product.

Henroid agreed.

“We need to educate people at the local level,” Henroid said.

Sebranek said educating people about irradiated meat will be a long process, but he hopes it will be effective.