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Carbon Monoxide Keeps Meat Looking Fresh for up to 20 days Jon Barron
Carnivores now have something to worry about beyond cholesterol and saturated
fats. It seems that the juicy red appearance of meat at your grocery store may,
in fact, be a lie. When left in a butcher's case without packaging, meat retains
its red color only a few days before starting to go rancid and turning
gray-brown. That's just not long enough to allow for distribution and
warehousing -- let alone end sales at the supermarket. So how is it that the
meat at the grocery store retains its fresh rosy glow for weeks on end?
According to a recent article in USA Today, the secret lies in infusing the
packaging with carbon monoxide -- a widely used practice. It seems that dosing
the meat with carbon monoxide keeps it looking good for at least 20 days --
double the amount of time achieved by other packaging methods. That's also about
nine times the number of days beyond when it goes rancid naturally.
Unfortunately, that "preserved" meat that looks so delectable ain't necessarily
what it seems. According to critics, the hunk of beef that appears so perfect
for dinner might actually be more perfect for the trashcan because carbon
monoxide treatment merely the masks signs of aging without actually preserving
the meat. When exposed to the gas, a pigment in meat reacts by turning bright
red, disguising signs of aging and putrification. (Ah! If only cosmetologists
could only figure out how to dose baby-boomers with carbon monoxide to mask our
signs of aging and decay.) On top of everything else, carbon monoxide masks
odors and slime -- and the effects last well beyond the point at which the meat
goes bad, so a fresh-looking pork chop might actually pose a health threat.
The issue came into focus recently when a Michigan health-food company, Kalsec,
Inc., filed a petition with the FDA calling for an end to the use of
carbon-monoxide packaging. Kalsec has spent $800,000 over the past few years
challenging food regulators and meat producers over the issue, claiming that,
"The packaging presents serious consumer deception and food-safety risks."
Kalsec points out that "treating meat with carbon monoxide could hide the growth
of pathogens such as Clostridium botulinum, Salmonella, and E. coli O157:H7."
The American meat industry (not surprisingly) disagrees, insisting that the onus
should be on consumers, who have a responsibility to check expiration dates on
packages in order to be safe. (And doesn't that just give you a warm, fuzzy
feeling inside.) Vice President Phil Minerich of Hormel Foods -- which has sold
120 million packages of carbon monoxide infused product -- says, "Packaging
gases have never been labeled," thus pulling out the old, "It's safe because
this is how we've always done it" argument. And Michael Osterholm, a public
health official at the University of Minnesota who also consults for Hormel
Foods, says he's "…never heard of a food-borne illness outbreak tied to spoiled
meat, in part because bacteria such as E. coli don't thrive in spoiled meat
because spoilage bacteria out-compete them for nutrients." Hey, is it just me or
is this a really odd argument -- that it's fine to sell spoiled meat because
it's so spoiled even E.coli won't touch it? (Again with that warm fuzzy
feeling.)
In spite of all these impassioned arguments from the meat people, large
retailers including Safeway, Publix, Tyson Foods, Kroger, and Giant Foods, have
found the concerns about infusing meat with carbon monoxide worrisome enough to
stop stocking the product. Carbon monoxide-infused packaging already has been
banned in the European Union; Canada prohibits it for wrapping fish; and
Singapore doesn't allow it with fresh tuna. And, in the US House of
Representatives, the Energy and Commerce Committee has held several meetings
this year to address concerns about this issue, while a bill has been introduced
requiring a safety notice on meat, seafood, and poultry using carbon monoxide
packaging.
Meanwhile, the FDA has taken no action to date. According to Consumer Affairs
News, "The FDA accepted the practice under its, ‘Generally Recognized As Safe'
self-affirming procedure, meaning that the FDA conducted no independent safety
investigations on its own, but instead relied on industry claims, research, and
documentation." (And yet again with the warm and fuzzy feeling.)
The FDA says it isn't required to investigate products that "fix" color; only
those that alter color, and carbon monoxide simply fixes that red shade that
meat starts out with. Kalsec, Inc. insists that carbon monoxide certainly is an
additive and that the FDA has acted illegally by allowing products treated with
it to go to market. While the argument gets tossed back and forth, consumers
continue to buy healthy-looking (but nevertheless rancid, slimy) meat --
unknowingly. I can't help thinking that allowing retailers to put a slick sheen
on spoiled product is like endorsing the used car lot that takes a wreck and
paints it up to look all slick and shiny and then sells it as a gem though it
won't make it around the block. As the ancient Romans used to say, "Buyer,
beware."