Maine students may find something a little different in their hot lunches next year.

Irradiated meat.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will begin offering irradiated ground beef, which has been exposed to X-rays, gamma rays or electron beams, to school systems that buy food through the National School Lunch Program. In Maine, the meat may be available for the 2004-05 school year.

The USDA says irradiation kills E. coli, salmonella and other bacteria, leaving the meat safe to eat.

“The beef is not really changed but it’s enough to kill the microbes in there,” said Philip Haines, Maine Bureau of Health’s deputy director. “This is an additional layer of protection.”

Irradiation has been allowed for spices, fruits, pork and other foods since the 1980s. The government approved it for use in beef a few years ago. All must be labeled.

The 2002 Farm Bill required the USDA to allow irradiated food in the National School Lunch Program.

Maine may order irradiated ground beef next year if there is enough demand for it by school systems. If the state does stock the meat, each school system will still have the choice to take irradiated or traditional beef.

“It’s not a substitution. It’s in addition to,” said Walter Beesley, education specialist for the Maine Department of Education’s child nutrition services.

Many area school officials said they aren’t sure whether they will buy irradiated ground beef or not.

“I don’t know a whole lot about it,” said Martha O’Leary, food services director for SAD 17 in Oxford. “I have so many conflicting reports I am very confused.”

Since it was approved in the 1980s, irradiated food has come under fire from consumers concerned that the process makes food radioactive or saps it of its nutrients. Some predicted that irradiation would lead to poor cooking or food handling, since workers will know that irradiation had made the meat free of bacteria.

O’Leary said a parent directed her to a Web site about a foreign study on irradiation last year while she was working at another school system. The study, she said, showed irradiated food caused health problems in lab animals.

“It certainly sent the red flag up for me,” O’Leary said.

But the USDA, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Food and Drug Administration have all said irradiated food is safe. They maintain that irradiation does not make food radioactive, does not affect nutrients and does not cause health problems for consumers. Some studies have shown that irradiated meat has a slight burnt taste, but it may be unnoticeable to most people.

In its letters to school superintendents, the Maine Department of Education and the USDA emphasized that irradiation cannot take the place of proper cooking and food handling.

Many area food service directors, including those in Auburn, Wales, Poland and Farmington, are waiting for more information before deciding whether to ask for irradiated meat. The Maine Department of Education will host an informational meeting for school officials in October.

Food service directors in Buckfield’s SAD 39 and Mexico’s SAD 43 said they know enough and would be happy to have the beef if their school boards. Superintendents and parents agree.

“As director, I’m going to advocate for that,” said Julia Samson, food services director for SAD 39, which includes Hartford, Sumner and Buckfield.

Samson said she used to think that irradiated beef meant serving food with radiation, but she said she learned more about the process and the safety advantages last spring.

Her workers do everything possible to ensure that the meat they serve is safe, she said, and she’s never had a child get sick from bad cafeteria food. But she likes the extra insurance she believes irradiation can provide.

“I think it has a lot of positive points,” she said.


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