ROSEMONT, Ill. (FNS) -- "We do not have 40 more years to wander around in the wilderness. It's time to go."
With the fervor of an Old Testament prophet, Al Kober, meat and seafood merchandising manager at Clemens Markets, called the meat-processing industry to action on irradiation of red meat.
Kober, who provided the only retailer voice at a recent seminar on irradiation here sponsored by the American Meat Institute Foundation and the National Center for Food Safety Technology, emphasized that retailers need to see the backing of the meat industry for irradiation.
He also said he believed customers are likely to see a value to safer meat products through the use of irradiation.
"We sometimes sell the customer short. If given the facts, they will make a good decision," he said. As retailers, "We know what our customers want and how to sell them. That's what we can bring to the table."
Kober added that the irradiation-equipment industry needs to help educate both retailers and consumers about the process. Most of all, the meat processors need to make the product available.
While he personally is convinced of the benefits of meat irradiation, "I would have to sell it to my boss first," he confessed. "I have no qualms, but my owner does." That scenario is typical of the supermarket industry at this stage, he added.
The lesson there is that retailers need to be educated about irradiation, Kober emphasized. "It's old for you," he told the irradiation equipment manufacturers in the audience, "but it's brand new for us. Don't assume we know what you're talking about."
However, retailers, he warned, will not accept irradiated meat until at least one of the major meat processors is behind it.
"We would not venture into it without the cooperation of the industry. We need one of the big packers. Right now, everyone is positioned to be the best second player. We need someone to bite the bullet," Kober emphasized to the meat packers in the audience.
After his presentation, Kober told SN that the two to seven cents per pound that irradiation is projected to add to the cost of meat would be irrelevant.
"In any competitive market, there's a 50-cent difference in the price of ground beef," he noted.
For the retailers, the key is the increase in shelf life from irradiation, he stressed. "If I can get 10 hours more on ground beef, I've got my money back. If I can get two days, I'm making money," he explained.
For the public, food safety will be perceived as an added value, he said.
Asked if irradiated meat in a supermarket case would raise questions about the safety of non-irradiated products, Kober said his chain, based in Kulpsville, Pa., currently carries a line of "natural" beef promoted as hormone-free, "and it's had no impact on our sales of other beef."
