From Meatingplace.com:
BEEF NEWS
Meat industry supplier petitions FDA about carbon monoxide packaging
by
<mailto:phisey@meatingplace.com?subject=Reader%20Comment:%20Meat%20industry%20supplier%20petitions%20FDA%20about%20carbon%20monoxide%20packaging>Pete
Hisey on 11/18/2005 for Meatingplace.com
Kalsec Inc., a Kalamazoo, Mich. spice and extract supplier that specializes
in case-ready meats, among other product categories, has petitioned the
Food and Drug Administration to reconsider its decision to allow carbon
monoxide in case-ready packaging. The company contends that the gas, which
gives meat a bright red color, will keep beef and other meats fresh-looking
long after it has actually spoiled, creating a food-safety danger.
In its petition, the company said that carbon monoxide masks such signs as
brown color and odors that indicate unsafe food.
James Hodges, president of the American Meat Institute Foundation, fired
back that scientific investigation has found the technology is safe. "It is
unfortunate that this competitive attack may create food safety concerns
when there are none here," Hodges said.
Carbon monoxide is used in case-ready packaging that contains no oxygen.
Without oxidation, beef appears purple in color, but the addition of a very
small amount of carbon monoxide creates a bright red color, extending
shelf-life because of the lack of oxygen while presenting a more appealing
color. It was approved by FDA a year ago. While most of the rest of the
world outlaws such packaging, there has been no evidence that it creates a
food-safety threat, and sell-by dates should keep spoiled food off the market.
However, Dr. Don Berdahl, vice president and laboratory director for
Kalsec, noted that studies the company conducted on ground beef showed that
meat could be improperly refrigerated, develop high level of pathogens, yet
appear fresh to a consumer. He said that even if FDA reaffirms the safety
of carbon monoxide in packaging, "They should at least attach a label that
says that the product has been color-enhanced with carbon monoxide and let
the consumer make the choice."
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Robert A. LaBudde, PhD, PAS, Dpl. ACAFS e-mail: ral@lcfltd.com
Least Cost Formulations, Ltd. URL: http://lcfltd.com/
824 Timberlake Drive Tel: 757-467-0954
Virginia Beach, VA 23464-3239 Fax: 757-467-2947
"Vere scire est per causas scire"
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