FDA Is Urged to Ban Carbon-Monoxide-Treated Meat

WahingtonPost.com ^ | Monday, February 20, 2006 | By Rick Weiss

[Fawn]

"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?

[Fawn]

Mmmm....just add in some mad cow and I'll be all set.

[Fawn]

"The meat industry knows the answer, which is why it has quietly begun to spike meat packages with carbon monoxide."

[50sDad]

Irradiate it while your at it...I may take a week or so to get to that steak.

[50sDad]

Irradiate it while your at it...I may take a week or so to get to that steak.

[Blueflag]

I cannot understand why, physiologically or otherwise why someone would care if their food was packed in CO, CO2, N2, or Helium for that matter.

(BTW I am not gonna read the compost article - don't want to give them the hits)

How many folks on FR realize that snack bags are 'inflated' with dry nitrogen -- to reduce breakage and promote freshness and shelf life?? OMG they are packed in a CHEMICAL!!!! oh the horror.

[MineralMan]

Me, I like nice brown dry-aged steaks, with fat the color of old horse's teeth. They cook up nice and tender.

[Jeff Chandler]

I agree. What's the big deal?

[Publius6961]

Irradiate it while your at it...I may take a week or so to get to that steak.

Speak for yourself.
If I had access to irradited food, particularly meats, I would grab them in an instant.

Placed in danger by the ignorant. Not the best of feelings...

[Jeff Chandler]

...brown dry-aged steaks, with fat the color of old horse's teeth. They cook up nice and tender...and taste like liver.

[Red Badger]

Just teach the cows to smoke..........

[Jeff Chandler]

If I had access to irradited food, particularly meats, I would grab them in an instant.

At least hamburger.

[kidd]

This all sounds like another Alar scare.

[Publius6961]

Just to be perfectly clear: I would prefer the bright colored meats, all other things being equal.

[Incorrigible]

The "FrankenFood" types would go wild despite the fact that food irradiation would eliminate so much food poisoning.

[Itzlzha]

"The meat industry knows the answer, which is why it has quietly begun to spike meat packages with carbon monoxide."

It's been going on in the fish industry for years!

#1 Sushi grade Tuna is worth BIG $$$/lb. So, certain Tuna Boats have CO systems on board...see it ups the red myeglobin, which artifcially improves #3 or #2 grade for bigger $$$!

When buying your fish for sushi at home, it is VITAL to know your fishmonger! #2 grade is GOOD for seared steaks, it is NOT sushi grade!

[Eric in the Ozarks]

CO2 keeps those salmon fillets nice and pink.

[HEY4QDEMS]

But the growing use of carbon monoxide as a "pigment fixative" is alarming consumer advocates and others who say it deceives shoppers who depend on color to help them avoid spoiled meat

Stupid me, I've always read the expiration date

[ml/nj]

'inflated' with dry nitrogen

As opposed to wet nitrogen? What are you talking about?

ML/NJ

[ThanhPhero]

They are trying. Planting crops in rows is unnatural and causes bad vibes in food plants. The resulting produce will give you CANCER and you will DIE!

[GrandEagle]

If you can set it out on the counter overnight and still eat it the next day - AVOID IT in the first place!