I don’t know about you, but I try to live by the following principles:
Ingesting carbon monoxide = bad
Eating old meat = bad
Being tricked into eating old meat while simultaneously ingesting carbon monoxide = really bad
That’s why I was so troubled to learn that the pretty red meat for which I sometimes reach in the grocery store may look that pretty and red simply because it’s been spiked with carbon monoxide. It might be old. How old? Well, old enough to have turned some not-so-pretty colors if not for that handy little blast of carbon monoxide.
Here’s the deal: the meat industry apparently loses up to $1 billion annually on meat that no longer looks fresh. No consumer wants to buy uncooked meat that has turned brown. So a couple of years ago, food companies asked the FDA to fast-track approval of a process by which inert gasses, including carbon monoxide, get blasted into meat packages. The process can extend the shelf life of meats considerably; processors say treated ground meat can be sold for 28 days after leaving the plant, and solid cuts for 35 days. That time frame alone is enough to trouble me - deeply. But here’s the thing: the carbon monoxide keeps meats looking red indefinitely. Even if it’s left on your kitchen counter for weeks. Even if it sits on a truck with broken air conditioning on a Texas highway in August. Does it kill the nasty bacteria that could be lurking in your meat? No, but it does suppress bad odors and the presence of slime, other telltale signs that your meat is spoiled.
I’m sorry, but…eww.
A quick Google search will tell you more than you ever wanted to know about the process. It will also put you in touch with all kinds of statements from the meat industry and its friends about how safe the process is (”Don’t worry!” they tell you. “Just eat it!”…to which I reply, “no thanks, guys.”). But definitely check out Jim Hightower’s What Color is Your Steak video, in which he lampoons the “goobers” that have helped mainstream this process.
Hello–over here from Breed ‘Em and Weep. What a fantastic site! As a new mama, I am constantly daydreaming about cooking with my son when he is old enough, and wondering how best to impart values about local foods…this is great inspiration. Thanks!
Great blog, love it!!! Your purpose here is one of the core issues of my life, especially now that I’m a mother (my daughter is about to turn 2). I’ll be a regular reader and look forward to the discussions and actions the blog will inspire.
“No consumer wants to buy uncooked meat that has turned brown.”
Ironic, ain’t it, especially given that most of the better steak houses sell dry-aged beef, which can look pretty putrid to people used to wrapped steaks with a color as bright as today’s dyed orange.
Gaack! I’m linking this - oh am I ever linking this. That is disgusting and every kind of wrong. I grew up with a Grandpa that had a cattle ranch and the meat never was the neon pink it is in the grocery.
I love your site. Great writing and tons of information. Thank you!
So now they’ve added carbon monoxide to the red dye? How creative of them.
Great link … glad I eat home raised beef. It’s not bright pink, more purply/red and tastes great.