Dallas - Industry leaders and food safety experts, in the on-going war against food-borne diseases, will debate implementation of irradiation technology at this year's Annual HMR (Home Meal Replacement) Summit, on March 18. With the growing popularity of "Home Meal Replacements," the use of irradiation technology is expanding to include freshly prepared foods available in supermarkets and restaurants as take-out meals. But, the food industry is concerned about implementation costs and consumer acceptance.
Leenie Ruben, President of Marketing Spectrum, Inc., a leading market researcher and consultant to restaurant companies, will unveil at HMR Summit -- for the first time - the results of her primary research on consumer attitudes towards food irradiation.
"The trade-off of saving lives from food-borne illnesses far out weighs the small risks that might prevail from irradiation" says Edward Deluca, Founder of Deluca, Inc. But, Deluca warns, "irradiation technology is NOT a panacea for food safety programs!"
Home Meal Replacement, or home meal solutions, are gaining increasing popularity among consumers of all ages and walks of life. And, competition has grown fierce as more players enter the game or expand their market presence. Supermarkets, restaurants, specialty food stores and warehouses clubs are rushing to produce ready-to-eat, ready-to-cook or ready-to-heat meals.
To date, irradiation has been largely used on produce, spices and wheat products. Now the industry is expanding usage to include red meat, pork and beef. But, food experts agree, many challenges remain and costs threaten implementation: How will the industry integrate irradiation into the food chain to avoid secondary cross-contamination? What about ensuring the safety of workers? And, special packaging must be developed for irradiation. Most important, employees must be trained on irradiation food safety, and the public must be educated on the wholesomeness of foods made safer by irradiation.
Dr. Eli Shneour, President of Biosystems, Inc., and a pioneer in advanced packaging concepts to extend shelf-life for processed and prepared foods states, "the relative cost of just storing and packaging fresh foods in the U.S. alone costs $1 million per year (this doesn't include transportation)! Just the refrigeration facilities alone cost a half a million dollars! The `real' costs and dangers lie in training the employees!" But this cost can be offset with the use of technology, he says.
"Recent outbreaks of food-borne diseases, the globalization of U.S. food markets and growing consumer demand for freshly prepared foods is driving federal regulators and scientists to identify technologies that effectively kill disease-causing bacteria (E-coli 0157:H7, campylobacteria and listeria) and extend shelf- life", says Nick Proia, VP of Marketing & Sales at Food Technology Services, the only manufacturing plant specifically dedicated to food irradiation.
The HMR Summit '98, for the first time, features panel debates and case studies from all sides of the industry including Burger King Corporation, La Romagnola, Biosystems, Tesco Markets, Tyson Foods, Nabisco, Technomic, Churchs Chicken, Deluca, Campbell Soup, Food Technology Services, Star Markets, the National Restaurant Association, California Pizza Kitchen, Draeger's Markets, Tfis, the Marriott, CS Integrated, the NPD Foodservice Group, the USDA and the FDA to name a few.
The HMR Summit '98 is scheduled on March 16-18th, 1998 in Dallas, Texas. This is the only ONE- STOP-SHOP event for all sides of the industry meets to focus on HMR issues! On March 18th join leading experts in the noteworthy workshop entitled, "From Farm-to-Fork: How to Implement & Benchmark Food workshop Safety Programs into Day-to-Day Operations " where the latest in food safety and irradiation issues will be discussed. The Summit features several dozen food and technology labs, 60 distinguished speakers and over 38 case studies from leading supermarkets, manufacturers, and restaurants.
Meat Industry Insights News Service
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