The Meat Packaging Industry—Purple, Red, or Brown?

What color steak would you put in your grocery cart? The fact is that the majority of American consumers rely heavily on their sense of sight when choosing products, particularly meat products. Consumers relate meat that is reddish in color to freshness. Realizing this, the meat packaging industry developed “modified atmosphere packaging” (MAP) technologies. This technology replaces the air in meat packaging with different combinations of gases that slow down the discoloration process. The practice of carbon monoxide packaging has been used in the meat packaging industry for more than 20 years. In the 1980s carbon monoxide packaging processes were hailed as successful and hi-tech in articles from the Financial Times (UK, Dec. 1984) and Fortune (U.S., Dec. 1985) magazines.

Beef, which initially appears purplish in color, immediately changes to a reddish color after slicing and when exposed to air. Continued exposure to air causes the meat to turn brown, even grayish, yet it still remains perfectly safe to eat. The meat packaging industry insists that adding carbon monoxide (CO) to packaged beef at such low levels poses no safety threat to humans. Carbon monoxide doesn’t affect the odor of beef, nor does it modify bacterial growth or change the color of beef. It simply serves to provide a more stable and aesthetically pleasing color for American consumers by avoiding premature browning of the meat due to oxygenation. Sell-by-date labels provide a safeguard for keeping spoiled meat off the shelves.

There have been no reports of American consumers eating spoiled MAP-treated beef and becoming sick. All packaged beef, MAP-treated or not, contains a “sell-by-date” label. Meat spoilage is possible if the meat is not properly handled (i.e., stored at a proper temperature). Consumers would be able to tell if the meat was spoiled by the bulging package, rancid odor or slimy texture. Red-colored meat or brown-colored meat, these warning signs would be visible to the consumer; certainly not masked like the Michigan-based company Kalsec Inc. claims.

In 2001, the FDA approved the use of carbon monoxide in meat packaging as a substance that is “Generally Recognized as Safe.”

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Fact Sheet: Modified Atmosphere Packaging Using Carbon Monoxide