Health Canada is thinking about allowing irradiation of ground beef.

The department announced the start of a consultation on a proposal that would allow irradiation of fresh and frozen ground beef to enhance food safety.

After a review, Health Canada officials determined that ground beef treated with irradiation is safe to eat and retains its nutritional value, taste, texture and appearance.

The department's food directorate concluded there is sufficient data to support that irradiation reduces bacterial levels, such as E. coli O157:H7. Contamination with the microbe led to the largest beef recall in Canadian history after an outbreak at XL Foods in Brooks, Alta., in September 2012.

Irradiation also reduces the level of bacteria such as salmonella and Campylobacter. It can prevent premature spoilage and increase a food's shelf life.

Irradiation is already approved in Canada to treat potatoes, onions, wheat, flour, spices and seasoning preparations.

Food irradiation involves bombarding food with ionizing radiation, such as the gamma rays or X-rays routinely used to sterilize medical and dental products, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The technology is meant to complement, not replace, existing food safety processing, such as appropriate handling, sanitation and storage, the department said.

Irradiated foods must be clearly labelled with a written description as well as the Radura symbol on the package itself or on a sign next to it.

Label for transparency

Health Canada had proposed to permit the sale of irradiated ground beef in 2002. But according to its website, some consumer associations and individual Canadians did not support the proposal because of misconceptions about irradiated food products and scepticism surrounding the science and safety.

Barbara Lee, director of Health Canada's Bureau of Chemical Safety, told reporters Friday that polling suggests public opinion may have shifted on irradiation as a result of highly visible outbreaks.

Radiation was traditionally a dreaded term that would "cause people to grab their kids and escape to the hills," said Tim Sly, a professor in the School of Public Health at Ryerson University in Toronto.

Sly believes in this age of transparency, labelling of irradiated foods would go a long way.

"Transparency here means labelling," Sly said. "It's being coerced into something that gets the blood boiling among a lot of people."

Whenever salmonella, E. coli or Listeria scares make the news and recalls occur, Sly said, irradiation could avoid the wastage of millions of pounds of food.

Irradiation is likened to pasteurization in that it doesn't sterilize foods.

At standard doses, it won't kill spore-forming bacteria such as those that can cause botulism, said Sly. He's investigated outbreaks of food-borne diseases.

With respect to trade implications of the potential move to irradiating beef, Health Canada said the European Union only authorizes irradiation of dried aromatic herbs, spices and vegetable seasonings, although some EU countries allow irradiation of other foods such as poultry.

The U.S. allows irradiation of refrigerated or frozen, uncooked intact or ground beef, to control pathogens and to extend shelf life.

Sly raised China as another market that could be accepting of irradiated meat.

The consultation period ends Sept.1.