Does Red Mean Fresh? Maybe Not!

Did you know that your supermarket may be selling ground beef and steaks packaged with gas that keeps it looking red for a month or longer? Tests found that meat packaged using this method stayed red even after it was spoiled.

The procedure replaces most of the oxygen in the package with other gases including small amounts of carbon monoxide (used in factory-wrapped or case-ready) meat. Those gases, which react with the color in meat, generate a red color. The shelf life for ground beef sealed in that mix of gases can be extended from about 14 days to 28 days, and about 10 days to 35 days for whole cuts.

This ground beef, treated with carbon monoxide, was still red 8 weeks after its stamped sell by date.

Some supermarket chains, including Kroger and Publix, decline to carry meat packaged with carbon-monoxide, because of concerns as regards to appearance and quality.

Bacterial counts that point to spoilage in meat may make it taste and smell bad, but food safety experts say that it is generally not a health hazard. Thorough cooking will kill bacteria that cause food borne illness, though it won’t necessarily undo spoilage odors or bad taste.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration determined as recently as July 2004 that it had no objections to the use of carbon-monoxide packaging for fresh meat.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

• Ask whether your grocer sells meat packed with carbon monoxide.
• If so, don’t use color as the only guide to freshness.
• Buy meat whose stamped date is a couple of weeks away.
• With all meat, check for signs of spoilage, such as surface slime.
• Always throw away meat that smells bad.

Still Drinking Bottled Water?

German researchers have found that the longer a bottle of water sits on a store shelf or in a household pantry, the higher the dose of antimony it contains. Amounts of this potentially toxic trace element were measured for 15 brands of Canadian bottled water and 48 European brands. Concentrations reached more than 100 times the average level of antimony in pristine groundwaters (2 parts per trillion).

However, the concentration was even higher after the bottles were left to sit at room temperature for six months. Antimony concentrations in the Canadian bottled waters increased by 19 percent, concentrations in the European brands increased by 90 percent.

Most of the water tested was packaged in bottles made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Antimony trioxide is used as a catalyst in the manufacture of PET. The different concentrations of antimony in the various brands might have been caused by differing temperatures, water pHs, or exposure to sunlight.

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