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Oct 12, 2006 8:00 pm US/Mountain
Beef Packaging Technique May Mislead Consumers

Rick Sallinger
Reporting

(CBS4) DENVER Consumer advocates are warning buyers of meat about a
packaging process that keeps the foods looking red and fresh past the time
the beef spoils.

Some beef producers pack meat using "modified atmosphere packaging," a
process in which a small amount of carbon monoxide is injected into the
sealed product.

"The concern is that it is coloring the meat and keeping it bright red
past the time of spoilage," Chris Waldrop with the Consumer Federation of
America said.

CBS4 showed local shoppers examples of what meat looked like after sitting
in a refrigerator several weeks. One package was injected with carbon
monoxide and the other was not. The shoppers quickly identified the
package that looked okay as the one that had been injected with carbon
monoxide, even though both were spoiled.

Consumer Reports did a study that showed it would be difficult for
consumers to tell the difference between good meat and spoiled meat when
it was injected with carbon monoxide.

"Why not just be honest with the consumers and put it on the label?"
CBS4's Rick Sallinger asked Randy Huffman of the American Meat Institute.

"I really don't see a need for that," he answered. "The information the
consumers need to make a good decision is on the label."

The meat with carbon monoxide must have a date to use or freeze by on it.
It also needs safe handling instructions. There is no requirement to
provide information that indicates if it was packaged with carbon monoxide.

The Food and Drug Administration approved the use of carbon monoxide and
the US Department of Agriculture saw no reason to note it on the label.

"The labels get awfully tiny print on them sometimes and I'm not sure
people read those labels in great detail," said Dr. Richard Raymond,
Undersecretary for the USDA.

The meat industry believes $1 billion a year can be saved by extending the
shelf life of beef and reducing waste.

"Would some say this is a trick to increase profits?" Sallinger asked Huffman.

"I would absolutely disagree with that," he answered. "Packaging
technologies are used to deliver consumers higher quality products at
competitive prices."

Huffman added that consumers need to use their nose and eyes to make sure
meat is okay to eat.

There is a bill before Congress to ban the use of carbon monoxide in beef
packaging. The European Union does not allow the practice.

In CBS4's survey of shoppers, only one person immediately could tell that
both types of packaging had spoiled meat.