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Carbon monoxide in your meat - What do you think?
FDA is urged to ban carbon-monoxide-treated meat
By Rick Weiss
The Washington Post
WASHINGTON — Picture two steaks on a grocer's shelf, each hermetically sealed in clear plastic wrap. One is bright pink, rimmed with a crescent of pearly white fat. The other is brown, its fat the color of a smoker's teeth.
Which do you reach for?
The meat industry knows the answer, which is why it has quietly begun to spike meat packages with carbon monoxide.
The gas, harmless to health at the levels being used, gives meat a bright pink color that lasts weeks. The hope is that it will save the industry much of the $1 billion it says it loses annually from having to discount or discard meat that is reasonably fresh and perfectly safe but no longer pretty.
Full article at: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/...
From later in the article:
Consumer advocates note that the European Union has banned the use of carbon monoxide as a color stabilizer in meat. A December 2001 report from the European Commission's Scientific Committee on Food concluded that the gas (whose chemical abbreviation is "CO") did not pose a risk as long as food was kept cold enough during storage and transport to prevent microbial growth. But should the meat become inadvertently warmer at some point, it warned, "the presence of CO may mask visual evidence of spoilage."
How is it, Berdahl and others ask, that something can be deemed "generally recognized as safe" when there is enough scientific debate over the issue to warrant a ban in Europe?
"I just picture a refrigerator truck breaking down in Arizona and sitting there for an afternoon. Then, 'Hey, we got it repaired and nobody knows the difference,' and there you go," Berdahl said.
4 Answers
- 2 decades agoFavorite Answer
I'm not certain how I feel about your Q yet, but a young man asked a Q that I thought he could use your expertise
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AmTiz...
I know food coloring techniques have been used in the past to mask the browning of meats.. unfortunately, I'm unable to find a site that gives information on what I remember being used..so this isn't a new thing, just a different technique.. and I am against all kinds of fresh meat coloring, I would rather buy a meat that has the marbling that I prefer for tenderness, even if it has begun browning, than the much leaner pieces that are eye friendly.
I agree, there are too many people out there that will unknowingly accept meats that have not been held to proper temperature simply because the food may appear to be the color it should be, but it would only take a day or two for the consumer to begin purchasing it and complaining, and it can probably be tracked back to the broke down truck...many drivers would automatically decide the food has been exposed to hazardous temperatures and return to the company it came from letting insurance follow up for the loss, but not all are reputable when it comes to gaining a dollar, and selling the meats anyway.
- Anonymous5 years ago
Yes, a couple of months ago the media brought to our attention the use of carbon monoxide by processing plants to keep meat red longer. Since then I have noticed that my meat starts turning brown much quicker, so I think so plants have discontinued the use.
- 2 decades ago
carbon mnoxide is a colourless, oudourless gas that will definitely cause death within about 15 minutes if ut enters your bloodstream....there is no antidote. however, using it to treat meat will not harm you beacuse the moment it reacts with meat, it will form something else...possibly the very weak carnbonic acid from the moisture in the meat. probably that is what keeps it fresh. and carbonic acid is hardly harmful. more stronger acids might be found in fruits like apples and lemons.
- Anonymous2 decades ago
That's stupid! Even if it is "safe levels" they are using, it will build up in your system after awhile and cause serious health problems. FDA sucks - the more I hear about them, the more disgusted I get with them!
