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Supermarket Chains Refuse To Sell Carbon Monoxide-Treated Meat

April 6, 2006

• Consumers Concerned About Carbon Monoxide in Meat • Supermarket Chains Refuse To Sell Carbon Monoxide-Treated Meat • FDA Asked to Prohibit use of Carbon Monoxide in Red Meat

Major supermarket chains are turning up their noses at case-ready meat and ground beef treated with carbon monoxide. The use of carbon monoxide imparts a bright red color on the meat's surface, which can hide the browning of meat normally associated with spoilage and temperature abuse.

Major national supermarket chains, including Wal-Mart, Kroger, Publix, Stop & Shop, A&P, Wegmans and Whole Foods are not selling carbon monoxide-treated meat to consumers, and some have cited potential consumer deception as a reason for their decision.

"Publix does not use carbon monoxide to disguise the color of our meat," company spokeswoman Barbara Reid told the Atlanta Constitution-Journal. "Ethically, we disagree with it."

Because the use of CO could be viewed as deceptive, Kroger executive Lynn Marmer said the company does not sell CO-treated meat.

In a letter urging the Food and Drug Administration to rescind its approval of CO-treated meat, the Consumer Federation of America and Safe Tables Our Priority, a national, non-profit, volunteer, health organization, said carbon monoxide "hides the visual clues that consumers utilize on a regular basis to determine the safety and freshness of their meat," adding that "…consumers are unable to determine if the meat they are purchasing for their families is truly fresh."

"Supermarkets across the country are listening to consumer concerns about meat packaged with carbon monoxide," said Chris Waldrop, Deputy Director of the Food Policy Institute at CFA. "We applaud their decision to keep this deceptive practice out of their stores."

Chicago recently became the first municipality in the United States seeking to protect consumers by banning the use of carbon monoxide on fresh meat.

Mark Klein of Cargill Meat Solutions, the company that sells much of the carbon monoxide-treated meat in the United States, was quizzed at a Chicago City Council hearing about the consumer's right to know whether meat is treated with carbon monoxide.

A transcript of the March 23 hearing revealed this exchange:

ALDERMAN HAIRSTON: My question to you -- I want you to answer the question that I asked you previously. In other words, the consumer doesn't have a right to know?

MR. KLEIN: I don't think they really would, you know, care to know.

The practice is already banned in the European Union.

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