June 26, 2001
Mr. Donald S. Clark, Secretary
U.S. Federal Trade Commission
600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20580
Re: False advertising complaint against SureBeam Corp.
Dear Mr. Clark:
Under the provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act and
Title 15 of the U.S. Code, Public Citizen and the Center for
Food Safety hereby file a false advertising
complaint against SureBeam Corp. This complaint relates to the manner in which
SureBeam recently advertised its services on the Internet.
Based in San Diego, CA, SureBeam is a provider of food irradiation
services using linear accelerators. On May 24 and 25 of this
year, SureBeam sponsored the "Daily Industry News" provided
by the Internet-based news and information service, MEATingplace.com
(www.meatingplace.com). These advertisements promoted SureBeam's "electronically
pasteurized foods."
These advertisements are misleading because
pasteurization and irradiation are distinctly different processes.
Pasteurization is a thermal process that was invented by French
microbiologist Louis Pasteur in 1864, when he discovered that
microorganisms could be killed by heating wine to 55° C for
several minutes. For decades it has been used successfully to
decontaminate dairy products, fruit juice, beer and wine.
Irradiation is an ionizing radiation process that was developed
during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, mainly through research conducted
by the U.S. Army, which was looking for ways to better preserve
food for soldiers; by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, which
was looking for non-military applications of nuclear technology;
and the U.S. Department of Energy, which was looking for ways
to utilize the radioactive waste generated by the production
of nuclear weapons.
In the case of SureBeam, the company uses a type of linear accelerator
originally developed for the Strategic Defense Initiative to
fire electrons nearly to the speed of light, killing microorganisms
by disrupting their DNA. Though legal for nearly 40 years, food
irradiation has yet to be extensively integrated into commercial
food production and distribution systems.
Accordingly, the American public has markedly different opinions
about the two processes. Pasteurization has been named in many
public opinion polls as one of the most trusted food safety technologies
ever developed. Irradiation, however, is unfavorably looked upon:
- From 1998 to 2000, the percentage of shoppers who told the
Food Marketing Institute that they would buy irradiated food
dropped from 79 percent to 38 percent.
- According to a 1997 CBS News poll, 73 percent of people surveyed
said that food should not be irradiated, and 77 percent said
they would not eat irradiated food including 91 percent of
women surveyed.
- According to a 1998-99 poll by the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control, only about a fourth of those surveyed said they would
be willing to pay more for irradiated ground beef and poultry.
The fact that consumers hold negative attitudes toward irradiation
was echoed at a food irradiation conference held in Washington,
D.C., Feb. 26-28. Brian Folkerts of the National Food Processors
Association told the audience that "the word irradiation
has a very negative connotation" that "is an impediment
to the consumer acceptance of irradiated food." NFPA president
Jeffrey Barach told the audience that irradiation "is a
very pejorative term."
It is clear that SureBeam is attempting to stimulate positive
consumer responses to irradiated food by invoking the word "pasteurization." It
is also clear that people who read SureBeam's advertisements
on the MEATingplace.com are likely to believe that SureBeam provides
pasteurization services. Accordingly, SureBeam's
use of "electronically
pasteurized" is deceptive.
Title 15, Section 52 of the U.S. Code states that "it shall
be unlawful for any ... corporation to disseminate, or cause
to be disseminated, any false advertisement." Title 15,
Section 55 defines "false advertisement" as an advertisement
that is "misleading in a material respect." Section
5 of the FTC Act prohibits "deceptive acts or practices." Sections
12 and 15 make this prohibition applicable to food.
According to the FTC's "Advertising and Marketing on the
Internet: Rules of the Road" (September 2000), the FTC has
interpreted "deceptive" to mean advertising that "is
likely to mislead consumers and affect consumers' behavior or
decisions about the product or service." It is clear that
using the term "pasteurization" in lieu of "irradiation" is
likely to mislead consumers and affect their decisions about
SureBeam's products.
We believe that SureBeam's advertisements meet all three elements
of the FTC Policy Statement on Deception (October 14, 1983).
In the case of SureBeam's use of "electronically pasteurized" in
lieu of "irradiation," (1) the misrepresentation is
likely to mislead the consumer; (2) the misrepresentation is
likely to mislead a reasonable consumer; and (3) the misrepresentation
is a material one.
We strongly urge the FTC to fully investigate this matter and
exercise any and all means to enjoin SureBeam Corp. from disseminating
false advertisements.
Sincerely,
Wenonah Hauter, Director, Critical Mass Energy and Environment
Program, 215 Pennsylvania Ave., S.E. Washington, DC 20003
Andrew Kimbrell, Executive Director, Center for Food Safety
666 Pennsylvania Ave., S.E. Washington, DC 20003
Posted at Public
Citizen |
