May 19--GULFPORT -- A $5 million food-irradiation facility at the Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport is expected to increase business by officials who say it increases food safety and extends shelf life of perishable foods.
Airport Executive Director Clay Williams said the company is "very encouraged" by its investment in its $12 million cargo warehouse.
The food-irradiation business, Gateway America, is the only tenant to date in the airport's warehouse and is working at 20 percent capacity. Williams said it was built to handle both perishable and nonperishable cargo as a benefit and service for importing and exporting requirements.
The airport and Gateway America expect the use of the food-irradiation facility to bring more jobs to Gulfport and the Coast. The business alone will provide more than 25 jobs, and the industry will create indirect jobs, Gateway America President Frank Benso said.
"The potential for job growth is enormous," he said. "With more revenue flows and more freight coming through the area, there will be a stronger focus on Gulfport as a trade hub."
Indirect jobs can include aircraft handlers, truckers, warehouse agents, port employees and governmental regulation workers, said Ryan Hollingsworth, vice president of operations.
"This is a big thing for Mississippi's industry," Hollingsworth said. "It's a complete multiplier effect across the board."
Currently, Gateway's main customer is Crystal Seas Seafood in Pass Christian, whose oysters it irradiates to kill vibrio bacteria.
The bacteria cause a food-borne illness most commonly contracted from eating raw oysters. Vibrio is prevalent in warm coastal areas such as the Gulf and is more common in summer, according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.
Gateway also is testing sweet potatoes for North Mississippi farmers interested in using irraditation to extend the shelf life of their produce for up to a year, Hollingsworth said.
"From a food-safety perspective, this is critical," Benso said. "Most exotic produce and imports already have to go through irradiation before they can enter our port of entry."
The business is completing the last of a series of regulatory certifications. Its import/export treatment facility is certified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
Food irradiation is used to prevent food-borne illness; preserve; control insects; delay sprouting and ripening; and sterilize, and "does not make the foods radioactive, compromise nutritional quality or noticeably change the taste, texture or appearance," according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. However, many consumers and food-industry leaders have been apprehensive about irradiation, citing claims it causes vitamin loss and creation of highly reactive free radicals, according to the organization Food & Water Watch.
Whole Foods Market, which has announced plans to open a store in Mobile, says on its website "produce and meat products can and should be packaged, transported and stored to retain maximum nutritional value without the use of irradiation" and says the process is not compatible with organic food production.
Benso said claims like that are "totally erroneous" and "people don't understand the residue and fumigants currently present on the produce they're consuming that can be carcinogenic."
Benso said if they understood the process they would "embrace this technology."
Hollingsworth said in traditional methods of food processing such as fumigation, temperature of products is brought up 59 degrees, but during irradiation the food is increased about half a degree and brought right back down, causing less damage.
"It's the fastest, safest process for post-harvest treatment," he said.
Food irradiation is used in more than 50 countries, according to the International Irradiation Association. Williams said Gateway's facility is one of a few in the region and the only one at an airport, which makes it unique.
"This is another amenity to be utilized in our building by those handling perishables," Williams said. "It will attract additional products and will function as a job creator."
Copyright 2013 - The Sun Herald
