I believe many of the Frozen, and Refrigerated meats in this country are irradiated, they just don't announce it. It is used as a back up pln for customer safety. Lysteria, and E Coli can be held at bay with good practices in manufacturing facilities. But there is always the chance that a couple slip through anytime you are working with live animals and dirt.

As for the shelf stability. I wasn't aware that this would work, now thats an interesting idea.