All that "Meats" the Eye

All that "Meats" the Eye

As consumers, many of us have adopted various practices for recognizing quality. Whether it's the proverbial kicking the tires on a used car, inspecting the stitching on a new piece of clothing or checking to see if the ground beef at the supermarket is still red, our instincts tell us to check for quality in our purchases. Many times we use the time-honored tradition of relying on our senses - hearing, sight, taste, touch and smell - to alert us to any potential problems.

These highly unscientific, yet dutiful approaches may leave consumers feeling safer, but when it comes to the freshness of meat, our nose is not the best detector. And now, because of new practices allowed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, neither are our eyes. Because the age of a meat seems synonymous with its safety, consumers generally believe redder meats to be fresh. But when any red meat is exposed to air, a natural reaction takes place on the surface of the meat, and over time the color changes from red to brown. However, red meat often begins to turn brown before its expiration date.

The meat packing industry argues that beef is actually safe for upwards of 20 days under refrigeration and much longer if it is frozen. The industry also argues that consumers should rely not on the color of meat, but on the expiration date on the package. To lessen the chances that good beef will be taken off of store shelves due to its natural browning, scientists have found a way to artificially keep meats red indefinitely in sealed packaging.

Carbon monoxide, the same gas that is toxic to humans when inhaled in high concentrations, also has the effect of turning beef a shade of red mimicking very fresh meat when used in lower doses. Mixing carbon monoxide into the pre-packed, airtight packaging of beef allows it to retain its red color long after the expiration date on the package.

Groups have conducted experiments with treated and untreated packages of beef and compared the two as they aged under refrigeration. Weeks later, after the expiration date had passed, the grocer's meat began to turn brown, while the case-ready carbon monoxide meat was still rosy pink. Even though the beef looked fresh, it was in fact contaminated with E. coli bacterium and salmonella.

The Food and Drug Administration has had long-standing rules against color alteration of meats but in a seeming contradiction, has allowed carbon monoxide treated packaging to move forward. My colleague Senator Debbie Stabenow and I have worked together closely on this issue and asked the Food and Drug Administration for an explanation of this change.

In their response, the FDA said they do not believe that carbon monoxide makes meats any less safe. The FDA claims that adding carbon monoxide to the packaging meets their standard of "generally recognized as safe," and because carbon monoxide is not a food additive, no further FDA approval is required.

There are currently no requirements for the meat packing industry to label which meats have been packed in carbon monoxide and which have not. As a result, it is especially important for consumers to look for the expiration date printed on all meat package labels and not just at the color of the beef.

Even if the meat is purchased before the expiration date, consumers still need to be aware that beef packaged in carbon monoxide can spoil at home yet still look just fine. If consumers judge the freshness of beef only by its red color without checking the expiration date on the package, they run the risk of making a serious and potentially fatal mistake. You can't judge a book by its cover, and you can't judge beef by its color.

I believe that pre-packaged beef treated with carbon monoxide should be clearly labeled so that consumers know what they are buying. I will continue to work with the Food and Drug Administration on this matter.

http://levin.senate.gov/newsroom/release.cfm?id=254861