Carbon Monoxide Facts

When you're at the grocery store looking for that perfect piece of meat for barbecue, you will most likely choose the cut redder and thinner. What you might not know is this: that red meat may have been altered for packaging and freshness appeal by using a form of carbon monoxide that helps hide spoilage.

How carbon monoxide is used in meat packaging?
The FDA approved the use of carbon monoxide for the change of atmosphere packaging systems in the United States in 2004. This particular process replaces the oxygen in the packaging of meat with carbon monoxide in order to prolong the shelf life of the product from five days to the normal 15 days increased dramatically. Low oxygen levels reduce losses.

To attract consumers, the carbon monoxide is combined with myoglobin, a globular protein of 153 amino acids, to form carboxymyoglobin. The bright cherry red pigment is injected in most red meat, including pork. Not only does it intensify the color of meat and fresh, but it also masks the discoloration and deterioration.

So when you leave the consumer? Well, in the dark background, that the FDA does not require that food processors indicate on the label of their use of carbon monoxide in the product.

How food poisoning can be a factor?
Without the certainty of knowing how long the meat was outstanding, food poisoning from carbon monoxide is a potential risk to health. In a petition to the FDA, Kalsec, a Michigan company based food said: "Use of carbon monoxide deceives consumers and creates an unnecessary risk of food poisoning in beef to ground and stay costs beyond the point where the typical color changes to indicate the deterioration of aging or bacterial. "

Many countries such as Canada, Japan, Singapore and throughout the European Union have banned this particular method of packaging the risk of food poisoning from carbon monoxide is too much threat. In extreme cases, ingestion of the bacterium in spoiled food can be fatal for some people. If this process is here to stay in the U.S., consumers should be informed of what meat has undergone this method of packaging.

Types of food poisoning, carbon monoxide
Food Poisoning Carbon monoxide is a hazard to health should not be taken lightly. Here is a list of the most common bacterial and viral diseases that can be contracted by eating spoiled food and meat:

• Viruses: Norwalk, rotavirus, hepatitis A




• Bacteria: Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus, Campylobacter, Bacillus cereus, e-coli, traveler's diarrhea, botulism, Vibrio cholerae




• Parasites: beaver fever, Cryptosporidium

Although the negligent handling of food, storage, and improper cooking procedures remain significant contributing causes of food poisoning, the fact that carbon monoxide is used to delay the appearance of aged meat changes most likely how consumers handle on arriving home from the grocery store. Because meat looks fresh, a person may choose not to freeze it, and choose to keep in the refrigerator for several days before cooking. However, if the meat had already begun to rot, and continues to spoil on the shelf in the refrigerator, it could become the cause of food poisoning from carbon monoxide in your home.