Carbon monoxide treated food

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I know we all jump a hundred feet in the air when we hear the phrase "carbon monoxide". We do that because of a fear of carbon monoxide poisoning in the air. Now I hear the meat industry is treating meat with this stuff to keep it red - so the meat won't turn brown and thus turn consumers off of buying it. I'm not quite sure how I feel about this. They say that they use only minute levels of CO to treat the food - nowhere near poisonous levels of the gas - but doesn't it seem like they're deceiving people (whether or not on purpose) into buying meat that might be spoiled?

Of course people can, and should, always check the expiry date on the meat they buy. But a lot of people don't look at that.

The EU has banned CO-treated meat. I think Japan has as well. Should the US follow suit?

 

[RobertVA]

Depends on your definition of "spoiled"

Discoloration from exposure to atmospheric oxygen (which I suspect the carbon-monoxide would be counteracting) and the toxic bacterial growth that refrigeration retards would be different and independent processes. I'm wondering if the discoloration isn't essentially the same chemical reaction that changes the meat's color when it is cooked.

 

[Cicero]

I voted no, but only because I've almost no sympathy for people sicked by eating meat. It's vaguely karmic (in the Western sense).

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

RobertVA said:
Depends on your definition of "spoiled"

I work in a grocery store...with all due respect, I think I know what spoilage means.

As for the poll: I voted yes. If the food is spoiled, it should look that way. True, people should always look at their food's expiry date, but that's not enough. CO treatment - even if the levels used aren't enough to directly cause harm - is deception, and it could hurt people if they eat food that is spoiled (but doesn't look it).

 

[Ariadne]

There are a lot of much nastier chemicals that grocery companies use in food.

"Tricking people into buying spoiled meat" and "treating food so that it lasts longer before spoiling" are two very different things. Massive companies may not have a lot of sympathy for regular consumers, but they know that the former will get them sued.

 

[anti-matter]

... CO treatment - even if the levels used aren't enough to directly cause harm - is deception, and it could hurt people if they eat food that is spoiled (but doesn't look it).

That's what I think too...now if they used CO to kill bacteria I'd be cool with that. But the use of CO is no different than the using of those 'red dyes' a number of years ago to make food look good...but were later used to cause cancer. The priority here...

...is that spoiled meat can be made to look acceptable and that is fraudulent. Just say'en this is the 1st time I've heard of CO being used in meat processing.

 

[FrontLine]

I know we all jump a hundred feet in the air when we hear the phrase "carbon monoxide". We do that because of a fear of carbon monoxide poisoning in the air. Now I hear the meat industry is treating meat with this stuff to keep it red - so the meat won't turn brown and thus turn consumers off of buying it. I'm not quite sure how I feel about this. They say that they use only minute levels of CO to treat the food - nowhere near poisonous levels of the gas - but doesn't it seem like they're deceiving people (whether or not on purpose) into buying meat that might be spoiled?

Of course people can, and should, always check the expiry date on the meat they buy. But a lot of people don't look at that.

The EU has banned CO-treated meat. I think Japan has as well. Should the US follow suit?

Since you work in a grocery store, you should be aware that this has been going on for years, and you have already been eating the meat , and you haven't dropped dead or gown a third limb, don't worry about it. Oh and don't forget, unless its an 'ugly ripe' variety, if you have been buying your Tomatoes in the super market, they have been spraying the tomatoes with CO as well. They pick the tomatoes before they are ripe, blast em with CO to turn em red, and then let em ripen on the way to market. IF you want to avoid this, get your grocer to carry the 'ugly ripe' variety. They are fantastic.

 

[Ariadne]

The priority here...

...is that spoiled meat can be made to look acceptable and that is fraudulent. Just say'en this is the 1st time I've heard of CO being used in meat processing.

But that's not how they're using it - they're using it to make meat that is *near* spoilage look acceptable. Once meat *is* spoiled, they'll take it off the shelves or risk getting sued.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

But that's not how they're using it - they're using it to make meat that is *near* spoilage look acceptable. Once meat *is* spoiled, they'll take it off the shelves or risk getting sued.

Assuming that is all true, I still don't accept it.

If food is near spoilage, it should look that way! Then the customer could decide on their own whether they wanted to buy food which is that close to going bad.

 

[Trekker4747]

A year ago all our meat switched over to the pre-packed stuff with the "gas" inside. I don't believe ours is CO2 but some other gas, but gas none-the-less.

And while it keeps the product inside red, even after it sits out of refridgeration for days, and the date is stamped on the package I'm not entirely sure I'd trust it unless I really knew my grocer.

It's enitrely too easy for a package to sit out, be brought back by a customer, who knows what have happen to it and to just set it back on the shelf in the Self-Serve case because the package still "looks good."

It's safe to eat as far as the gas is concerned but unless you trust your grocer and he has good scruples there's little to no gaurantee that though the package is red and bright that it's always been under refridgeration.

The (gas) in the package shouldn't be of any worry. There's more CO2 in your body right now than there is in that meat.

Go worry about something real like CFLs, or something.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I'm not worried about my own store. We're owned by Kroger, and Kroger doesn't use CO in packaging.

Ariadne: I don't mean to question your own integrity, but how can you be so sure that CO isn't being actively used to mask spoilage?

 

[Ariadne]

Ariadne: I don't mean to question your own integrity, but how can you be so sure that CO isn't being actively used to mask spoilage?

I'm just assuming that because masking spoilage would be a bad business decision, and companies try not to do that.

It's the same reason they put expiry dates on the packages - because if they get a reputation for selling people food that makes them sick, they will sell less food. In some cases, it could even violate federal/provincial/state regulations regarding selling food.

Remember the salmonella contaminated spinach from last summer? A lot of people stopped buying pre-washed greens in plastic containers, and it cost the grocery stores a lot to get rid of it. I don't trust my grocery store to provide safe food out of the goodness of their hearts, but I do trust them to do so to avoid financial losses.

They're still putting expiry dates on packages - this just makes things look nicer. Frankly, you should look at the expiry date yourself anyway.

 

[Mallory]

The (gas) in the package shouldn't be of any worry. There's more CO2 in your body right now than there is in that meat.

Except that the gas in question is carbon monoxide (CO) and not carbon dioxide (CO2).

 

[Saturn0660]

Since you work in a grocery store, you should be aware that this has been going on for years, and you have already been eating the meat , and you haven't dropped dead or gown a third limb, don't worry about it. Oh and don't forget, unless its an 'ugly ripe' variety, if you have been buying your Tomatoes in the super market, they have been spraying the tomatoes with CO as well. They pick the tomatoes before they are ripe, blast em with CO to turn em red, and then let em ripen on the way to market. IF you want to avoid this, get your grocer to carry the 'ugly ripe' variety. They are fantastic.

I was about to say the same thing but you beat me to it.. This has been going on for years.. Do you eat? Then you've eaten it that way..

 

[Captain Intrepid]

I know we all jump a hundred feet in the air when we hear the phrase "carbon monoxide". We do that because of a fear of carbon monoxide poisoning in the air. Now I hear the meat industry is treating meat with this stuff to keep it red - so the meat won't turn brown and thus turn consumers off of buying it. I'm not quite sure how I feel about this. They say that they use only minute levels of CO to treat the food - nowhere near poisonous levels of the gas - but doesn't it seem like they're deceiving people (whether or not on purpose) into buying meat that might be spoiled?

Of course people can, and should, always check the expiry date on the meat they buy. But a lot of people don't look at that.

The EU has banned CO-treated meat. I think Japan has as well. Should the US follow suit?

Sounds about as harmful as the mercury in CFLs.