| You are planning a terrific barbecue this weekend and | | | | Publix, Stop & Shop, A&P, Wegmans and |
| fresh sirloins on the grill are on your menu. Pictures | | | | Whole Foods.During my younger years, I actually |
| yourself going to the grocery store and finding the | | | | knew a person who worked in a butcher shop and |
| most beautiful, pink, juicy cuts of meat… Does | | | | learned much more than I really wanted to know |
| that mean they are fresh? Not necessarily… It | | | | about beef liver, chicken necks and other |
| has come to the attention of the FDA that a lot of | | | | meats… So, I feel that there is a real need to |
| local grocery stores are now treating their meats | | | | dispel the American perception of fresh meat. When |
| with carbon monoxide to keep their meat looking | | | | your meat (such as a beef chuck roll or sirloin tip) |
| fresher longer. This debate is sizzling within Congress | | | | arrives at your butcher, the meat itself is not pink |
| and the FDA almost as hot as a grill on a sweltering | | | | nor is it brown. It’s more of a dark reddish |
| summer day.The public assumption is that the pinker | | | | color and extremely juicy (bloody). Once the package |
| the meat is, the fresher the cut and this is absolutely | | | | of meat is open, the first cuts are the same dark red |
| untrue. This human assumption is what grocery | | | | color. Once air hits the meat, primarily the natural |
| stores are counting on to increase their lackluster | | | | carbon monoxide that is found in your breathing air, |
| meat sales. Following such “meat | | | | the meat begins to turn the common pink color we |
| scares” as mad cow disease and the avian flu | | | | are used to.This process normally takes |
| in chickens which have decreased meat sales | | | | approximately twelve hours. Your meat is packaged |
| throughout the United States, the only way that | | | | in plastic wrap and after a twelve hour period begins |
| these butchers have to combat the lack of sales is | | | | to turn the brownish color that is associated with |
| to increase the shelf life of the meat that is cut. It is | | | | meat “turning bad”. Does this mean the |
| a fact that meat that has been cut will begin to turn | | | | meat is bad? Maybe… but most likely not. |
| brown as it starts to “go bad”. The use | | | | Sometimes, simply the fluorescent lighting that is |
| of carbon monoxide turns the meat a bright pink | | | | commonly used in grocery stores will cause |
| which can last up to 10 days at 50 degrees. Does this | | | | discoloration in the meat. The best way to check is |
| mean that the meat is still good? Absolutely not! But | | | | by leaning the package over and checking the color |
| that isn’t what the American Meat Institute is | | | | of the “juice”. The “juice” |
| saying. However, the FDA and a number of other | | | | should be bright red and not dark brown. In |
| consumer groups do not feel that enough testing has | | | | summary, the freshest cuts of meat will be dark red |
| been done to verify its safety.Many consumer | | | | in color with very bright blood and a piece of meat |
| groups are pushing a bill in Congress to ban carbon | | | | that isn’t fresh will be grayish brown in color |
| monoxide treatment to meat until more FDA testing | | | | and the blood will be a brownish red.While shopping |
| has been done. In the meantime, there are a number | | | | for your great sirloin steak this weekend, be sure to |
| of grocery chains that refuse to use carbon | | | | ask your local butcher if the meat that they are |
| monoxide treated meat. These stores include | | | | selling is treated or not. |
| Wal-Mart, Acme, Food Lion, SuperFresh, Kroger, | | | | |