Safeway, a large US grocery store chain recently pulled carbon monoxide treated meat from its’ shelves. Did you know that many of the large grocery stores in the United States were allowing their meat products to be treated with carbon-monoxide? In 2004 the Food and Drug administration and the Department of Agriculture permitted several large meat packagers (including Tyson, Hormel , and Cargill Foods) to inject CO into their meat products.

Meat products treated with carbon monoxide stay red longer, tricking the customer to think the meat is fresh, when it isn’t. Untreated meat starts loosing redness after 5 -8 days, while treated meat may retain redness for weeks or months.

Carbon monoxide is poisonous to the human body, so why eat it? The next time you buy red meat ask if it has been treated with CO or any other chemical. Even better find out where it came from and if it has been treated with hormones or antibiotics.