Surebeam, the US food irradiation specialist, has announced another major agreement to supply a supermarket chain with irradiated meats.

The company is set to supply processed fresh ground beef at Hannaford and Shop'n Save supermarkets. With 117 stores in five states, Hannaford will offer case-ready fresh ground beef processed with Surebeam's electron beam technology.

"We are underscoring our commitment to food safety by offering SureBeam processed fresh ground beef to our customers," said Karen Fernald, Hannaford Bros vice president of perishable merchandising. "Consumers deserve a choice in products they purchase and now they have one in fresh ground beef."

Hannaford is selling SureBeam processed fresh ground beef products in one-pound case-ready packages of 93 per cent and 85 per cent lean ground beef.

Hannaford's entry into the market brings to over 950 the total number of stores in the Midwest, Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States offering SureBeam processed fresh ground beef.

Although Surebeam is still struggling to make a profit, the company is now tipped by many industry observers to be on the verge of profitability, due mainly to the huge increase in demand driven by a series of major food poisoning outbreaks in the US.