The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Friday that it has approved irradiation of raw red meat as a way to curb food-borne illnesses caused by salmonella, E. coli and other contaminants.

"I don't want anybody fooled into thinking that this is some sort of magic bullet that will cure all of our food safety concerns because it won't," Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman said in prepared remarks for a meeting of the National Cattlemen's Beef Assn. in Charlotte, N.C. "It is one tool."

Under the agency's proposed rules, which are to be published in the Federal Register within 10 days, Glickman said producers using the technology would be required to label treated meats with a statement and a symbol. That way, he said, consumers would be able to choose.