_ National News
Experts promote food irradiation
The controversial process
could cut down on
bacterial illnesses such
as E. coli and salmonella
By Curt Anderson
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Irradiation
of food should become a national
priority to reduce illness caused
by dangerous microbes, despite
some consumer skepticism, a top
food industry executive and a
leading health advocate said
Tuesday.
Dr. David Kessler, former head
of the Food and Drug Administra
tion, and ConAgra Inc. chief
Bruce Rohde told an irradiation
conference that consumers must
overcome unfounded fears that
the process might harm them.
“Not to do something at this
point is to condemn us as a coun
try to suffer the consequences of
these foodborne illnesses again
and again,” said Kessler, now
dean of the Yale University
School of Medicine. “Food irradi
ation is a food safety tool that we
as consumers should not ignore.”
Rohde is one of the first major
food executives willing to pub
licly outline plans to install irra
diation in meat processing plants
when the technology becomes
feasible on a large scale.
“We’re ready to make those in
vestments,” Rohde said in an in
terview. “The investment in food
safety is a priority for us.” His
Omaha, Neb.-based Fortune 500
conglomerate is among the top
four beef packers and includes
brands such as Butterball turkeys,
Armour meats and Eckric.h cold
cuts.
Irradiation has been used for
years on limited amounts of pro
duce, spices and other foods.
However, last year’s FDA ap
proval of the process for red meat
has sparked new interest as the
food industry tries to tackle prob
lems with bacteria such as E. coli,
salmonella and Campylobacter.
Those bacteria and others cause
some 33 million gastrointestinal
illnesses and 9,000 deaths a year,
although some researchers be
lieve the true number could be far
higher.
Most scientists agree that low
level doses of gamma ray or elec
tron beam irradiation to kill bac
teria are safe in food. But
anti-nuclear groups have been vo
cally opposed, and some health
advocates worry that use of irradi
ation might reduce other safety
techniques such as proper han
dling and plant sanitation.
Threats of protest and worries
about consumer views have
prompted many large meat
processors to take a wait-and-see
attitude. Grocery chains say that
attitude itself could slow con
sumer acceptance of products
once they do reach the market.
irs audit reveals easy access to records
Anyone can get access
to sensitive tax records
with just a few key
pieces of information
By Rob Wells
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — With a
phone call to the Internal Rev
enue Service, a government in
vestigator was able to get confi
dential taxpayer records of
prominent people including a
mayor and a sports announcer by
providing little more than their
names, addresses and Social Se
curity numbers.
“Under current procedures,
an impostor who knows a tax
payer’s name, address and So
cial Security number can find
out tax and income informa
tion from the Internal Revenue
Service with a simple phone
call,” according to a 1997 in
ternal IRS audit of agency
practices.
A copy of the audit, dated
Sept. 30, 1997, was obtained by
The Associated Press. In re
sponse to the findings, the IRS
said it quickly strengthened its
procedures last fall by requiring
taxpayers to provide more de
tailed information from their tax
returns in order to receive sensi
tive records.
“I am extremely confident that
what we require exceeds what
very well might be required in
private industry,” said Ron Wat
son, the IRS executive officer for
customer service. "We have put
far more stringent requirements
in place now.”
“Is it an absolutely foolproof
system?” Watson continued. “I
don’t think any system is fool
proof.” Watson said he wel
comed the report's scrutiny be
cause it enabled the agency to
improve its systems.
IRS is required to guard against
unauthorized disclosure of tax
payer records while allowing tax
payers access to their own files.
"We take these kinds of reports
very, very seriously,” Watson
said.
IRS internal auditors con
ducted 109 test calls from 17 of
fices in the Northeast and West
between July 1996 and Febru
ary 1997. They posed as local
taxpayers, including — with
their permission — some
prominent business people, a
mayor and a sports announcer.
They were not identified in the
report.
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A) Sat, Apr 1111:00 am-3:00pm $34/$38*
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