Carbon monoxide-treated meats ... consumers are being deceived into thinking meat is fresher than it is. Packages of ground beef more than two years old were on display at the hearing looking red and fresh.
In surprise at yesterday's hearing, the chief executives of Cargill and Hormel said for the first time that their companies are willing to put labels on their carbon monoxide-treated meats that would say, "Color is not an accurate indicator of freshness."
Giant Food, Stop & Shop and Safeway stores recently announced they would no longer sell the gassed meats. Tyson Foods, the nation's largest processor of meat and poultry, has said it will stop using the technology. And On Friday, Target stores asked the Agriculture Department for permission to use labels that would say: "Carbon monoxide has been used to preserve the color of this product. Do not rely on color or the 'use or freeze by' date alone to judge the freshness of the product."
YES, "monoxide meat" is Banned in EU, Japan and Canada... but, FDA states: "This particular issue is not a safety concern that is even a remote concern on our radar," said David Acheson, FDA's assistant commissioner for food protection, adding that the agency is nonetheless conducting a full review in response to a citizen petition.
FDA officials at the hearing stood by their decision to categorize the gas as "generally recognized as safe," or GRAS, for use on red meat and tuna -- a category that allows companies to bypass a public regulatory review.
Opponents have said GRAS status is inappropriate for a technology banned by the European Union, Japan and Canada.
Almost two years ago TreeHugger warned about monoxide meat: "The Food and Drug Admin in the US allows supermarkets to pack red meat in carbon monoxide gas- just as your lips get a lovely shade of red when you leave the car running in the garage, the meat stays red and fresh looking for weeks." Two months ago Jeremy updated the story.
Now the meatpackers are backtracking and saying that they will accept labels suggesting that "Color is not an accurate indicator of freshness." Why not just ban it, like they do in Canada, the EU and Japan? :Washington Post
