More than 11 members of the media will come to campus today to attend a Meat Irradiation Media Day program hosted by Iowa State University Relations and the College of Agriculture communications office.

In December 1997, the Food and Drug Administration approved the irradiation of red meat.

Reasons to irradiate food include pathogen and spoilage control, said Dennis Olson, director for Utilization Center for Agricultural Products.

He said the FDA’s approval has prompted a lot of media to contact him about the issue.

The media day is in response to the hours he has spent talking to people individually about irradiation, he said.

Members of the media will have the opportunity to learn about a broad range of technology and may tour the Linear Accelerator Facility in the Meat Laboratory.

Other presentations include the food safety aspects and different industries’ perspectives of irradiation.

Olson said he hopes participants will learn about the process of irradiation by getting a firsthand look at how it works and its results on products.

Stephen Sapp, associate professor of sociology, will be among the speakers. He will discuss his research with consumers’ opinions about irradiation and food safety.

Consumers tend to be more persuaded by negative information about irradiation, and their opinions are even more intense in group settings, Sapp said.

He added that consumers should be aware of changing technology.

“We have to be active and aware consumers,” Sapp said. “We have to be responsible to learn about the technologies that produce our food.”

ISU has one of the very few irradiation facilities and is the only university to have an accelerator, Olson said. The ISU facility has been operating for five years.

Other universities are looking to build accelerators, but completion will take three to four years, Olson said.

“ISU is a leader in the facility operation,” he said. “We are about a decade ahead of the other universities.”

ISU research projects about irradiation relate to quality issues, including different packaging materials and preservation techniques, Olson said. Projects to develop shelf-stable products also are in developing stages.

Sapp said ISU is requesting a grant to do market research with a local grocery store next fall.