Irradiation: Technology’s There, Acceptance Isn’t

September 1, 2000

A new study from USDA’s Economic Research Service confirms earlier perceptions that only half the adults in a recent survey were willing to buy irradiated ground beef or chicken, and only a fourth were willing to pay a premium for these products which sot more to produce than comparable non-irradiated products.

Although irradiation technology is in place, reluctance on the part of consumers and the high capital costs of irradiation equipment have kept the irradiated foods market small, the ERS study says. A number of companies produce irradiation equipment, although most of the U.S. irradiation treatment market involves the sterilization of medical devices.

Capital costs of irradiation equipment for meat and poultry plants depend mostly on the radiation source (gamma rays, electron beams or X-rays), product characteristics, plant volume and facility design. One recent study found capital costs of an electron bream system for a plant producing about 100 million pounds of product per year are about $4.4 million depending on exact specifications. The costs of other systems range from $5.7-17 million.

Consumer reluctance to buy irradiated meat or poultry is due in part to a lack of information about food irradiation, according to ERS. One survey found that only 48% of adults ever had heard of food irradiation, suggesting that public knowledge about irradiation is low despite the recent increase in news stories about it.

The potential target groups for consumer education programs include consumers who are unwilling to buy or unsure about buying irradiated foods as well as consumers who are unwilling to pay more or unsure about paying more for irradiated foods.

But a broad-based effort to educate consumers has not emerged, ERS says. In the absence of a major government or industry effort to educated consumers, public attitudes toward food irradiation might be shaped instead by the opponents of irradiation, the ERS study suggests.

The entire ERS study is available on the Internet at http://www.ers.usda.gov/epubs/pdf/aib757/aib757.pdf.