SF Gate: More on Stores deceiving consumers with meat kept red with CO

[Yollam]

That meat may not be as fresh as it looks

Carbon monoxide packaging keeps color rosier longer
Marian Burros, New York Times
Tuesday, February 21, 2006

If some of the meat in supermarkets is looking rosier than it used to, the reason is that a growing number of markets are selling it in airtight packages treated with a touch of carbon monoxide to help the product stay red for weeks.

This form of "modified atmosphere packaging," a technique in which other gases replace oxygen, has become more widely used as supermarkets eliminate their butchers and buy precut, "case-ready" meat from processing plants.

The reason for its popularity in the industry is clear.

One study, conducted at Oklahoma State University for the Cattlemen's Beef Board in 2003, said retailers lost at least $1 billion a year as meat turned brown from exposure to oxygen, because, though it might still be fairly fresh and perfectly safe, consumers simply judged meat's freshness by its color.




Anyone shocked that one of the major purveyors of bright red, but OLD meat is Wal-Mart?

[AX10]

1. No suprise here. Meatpackers are regular and bigtime contributors...

to the GOP as are most supermarkets.

[Warren DeMontague]

2. Mmmmm! Yummy!

Steak A La Car Exhaust. Reason #2332 I'm glad I stopped eating red (or "red") meat a long time ago.

[Angry Girl]

3. I thought the meat's been looking redder - thought it was dye

Still not touching it, thank you, at least nothing bought from a stupormarket and DEFINITELY not from Vol-de-Mart's...

It's just like they put dye in the salmon to make it look pink instead of their normal GRAY (the pink comes from the fish eating a particular type of krill in the wild, if memory serves). Not touching that stuff either....