Carbon monoxide: One man's meat wrapping is another man's poison

[RedEarth]

Carbon monoxide - it's what's for dinner.

It's also a slogan that will never be embraced by a beef industry blitzed by consumer groups for injecting carbon monoxide, the toxic gas found in tailpipe exhaust, into meat packages.

The carbon monoxide, which the Food and Drug Administration says is harmless at the levels being used, keeps the meat looking red for weeks by replacing the oxygen that would otherwise turn it the color of an old leather shoe.

"The problem is that carbon monoxide masks spoilage," said Chris Waldrop, deputy director of the Consumer Federation of America's Food Policy Institute. "It makes the meat appear bright red and fresh, and the consumer can't tell whether they're buying spoiled meat. "It's deception, plain and simple."

Meat-industry executives say what's more troub ling is their critics' hysterical pitch over something that's safe and government-approved. They say other gases - such as carbon dioxide and nitrogen - have been used in packaging for bag salads, shredded cheeses and pasta for decades with little fanfare.

"In the last two weeks, we've seen a number of retailers backing off selling products in this kind of packaging," said Rex Moore, president of Denver- based Maverick Ranch Natural Meats.

http://www.denverpost.com/portlet/article/html/fragments/print_article.jsp?article=3596071

[BlackHeart]

1. It sounds scary...

...is it as bad as irradiation?

[Deja Q]

2. Hmmm. Selling tainted meat that looks fresh. How very Christian of them.

Neo-Christian, it seems. Or should I say what they do regarding their 'values', "Judeo-Christian"?

And where's the proof that meat, salads, et al, have been wrapped in other gasses? (for one thing, old salads still turn brown just as fast...)

[SharonAnn]

3. Hmmm, doing taxes, it's my RW Christian client with unpaid invoices.

And he's so righteous! And born-again! And saved!

I've contacted him several times, lots of excuses, so I'll just write it off.

And once again I'm aware that they more they talk about how Christian they are, they more likely they are to do something fraudulent. Guess all the talk is meant to be a distraction, sort of like the pea under the shell.

[politicat]

7. bagged salad uses nitrogen/CO2 to replace the oxygenated air.

Same with potato chips and a lot of other foods that have some "air" in the sealed bag.

Earthbound Organics invented the process, which allows greens to store and ship for about 13 days, in contrast to non-nitrogen packed greens, which wilt and brown within 48 hours of picking.

Earthbound was also able to stay ahead of the competition by coming up with new ways to pack produce, removing oxygen and adding nitrogen to the bag so greens stay fresh longer and developing harvesting equipment specifically for gathering baby lettuces.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/13759311.htm (AP business news wire, 31 Jan 2006)

Nitrogen makes up nearly 80% of the atmosphere, and it is the oxygen that makes vegetables brown though oxidation of an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase. Upon oxidation, it produces quinones that are yellow in color, leading to browning. (It's not just food that needs to be protected from oxidation; I learned about this when I was a grad student in history and we were trying to preserve papers and books that had a high lignin content. 19th century paper pretty much falls apart after about 90 years, thanks to the polyphenol oxidase in the paper. Rare, old books and papers are kept in a nitrogen vault much of the time.)

An article on lettuce and browning from a big lettuce producing city's paper is here: http://sun.yumasun.com/artman/publish/articles/story_22601.php

Nitrogen is relatively safe. Carbon monoxide, not so much. As far as meat goes... I'd rather they cryovac'ed it, but the problem with that is the color is off, and people think meat should be bright red. When something is cryovac'ed, there's no oxygen for the hemoglobin to react with, and thus the meat stays the purply-brown of veinous blood instead of arterial blood red. Cryovacing removes all gases from around the meat (think about those big briskets and pork loins) instead of replacing it with some other gas. No styrofoam needed, either.

[Digit]

4. I stopped buying ground beef from a "membership" store

I purchased a pkg of ground beef and it looked fine on the outside, but was nasty brown on the inside...I mean NASTY, and alittle slimy, too.
The taste was not quite normal, either. I took it back to the store and complained, but was told nothing was wrong with it. The butcher said the inside is brown when it has not been exposed to oxygen.
I knew it was BS.

[Kali]

6. Actually that is true

Not saying the meat you bought was good, you are the only proper judge of taste and texture, but the matter of meat turning brighter red on the outside due to oxygen exposure is true. Fresh, unexposed meat is more of a purple/brown than cherry red. Frozen looks the same.

[Digit]

8. Possibly, but it should not have been SLIMY.

That was a bigger clue.

[BlackHeart]

9. It was slimy?

And you ate it? eeewwwwww

[kestrel91316]

5. Don't be afraid of the tiny bit of CO in the wrapped meat............

be afraid for the WORKERS AT THE MEAT PACKING PLANTS when there is a big CO leak!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When I semi-retire, I hope to go work for the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service. Vets get good pay and great benefits, so it's a nice way to wrap up a career.........

But I will have to seriously rethink the wisdom of working in a plant where the poorly paid workers may be subjected to negligent, unplanned leaks of CO. And that means I could get it too. I would rather not finish up my career stiff and cold and cherry red in some mishap.