Bushite-Like Meat Packers: Want to Continue Carbon-Monoxide-Treated Meat!

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By Professor Emeritus Peter Bagnolo (about the author) Page 2 of 3 page(s)

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Estimates have been made that use of the Carbon Monoxide will save the industry the nearly $1 billion it claims to lose yearly by having to discount or throw away meat that they say is reasonably fresh...perfectly safe but no longer attractive to buyers.
People, however, depend upon the color of meat for verification of freshness, especially since it is plastic wrapped and even if it were not they would have difficulty smelling it amidst so many other fragrances and scents in supermarkets these days, blocking the olfactory system it would be hard to tell the odor anyway to help them avoid spoiled meat. Besides the meat is packed in plastic wrapped sealed containers and it is impossible to smell it. Many critics with common sense are rebutting the claims of lobbyists, who should have no voice because they are a good many steps below politicians, who are far below and drug companies for honesty. The FDA, the meat industry, and their paid "supporters" are all in it for their usual reason, profits. Critics say that the meat packers have violated their own rules because they never evaluated the impact of CO on consumer safety

If the industry knows the product is safe, why are they being deceitful to the consumers? Are they afraid to label meat packages as using carbon-monoxide to keep the meat red, so buyers will understand that neither color or smell can be used to determine it's freshness? Whenever anything is covert, we trust not the source.

The meat industry claims color is a not a good indicator of freshness because meat turns brown from exposure to oxygen long before it goes bad. Years ago the meat was red synthetically looking as though a T-Square was used to paint it with red dye, which usually only soaked in about a 32nd to a sixteenth of an inch. The outside was red but within it was brown to green. They tried to soft soap that the meat was oxidizing. I called their bluff while they sputtered-"meat," I said, "oxidizes from the outside in, not the inside out."

George H. Pauli, Associate Director for Science and Policy in the FDA's Office of Food Additive Safety, defended the agency's decisions. "In general, statute says you cannot use [substances] in a deceptive manner, and the question is what is a deceptive manner." This sounds amazingly like the torture argument justifying water boarding as a non-torture, and very much what Jesus warned against about twisting words and logic.
While he did say that the agency has not formally approved Carbon Monoxide's use as in this column, instead they considered material given then by the companies and accepted them at their word. "We said, Thank you, you've helped inform us! Gee, let's start doing that with all criminals and watch the jail population diminish rapidly, okay?
He sounds like many an employee of the Bushites.

Why are the meat industries Officials denying claims that carbon monoxide is an additive/"colorant?" Are they an offshoot, or have they been emboldened by the Bushites confabulation of reality, just as Bush is denying that Water Boarding is torture, to avoid prosecution, but with the added covertness of the worst sort of people, to make a profit? That is the sort of condition, which spreads and comes on strong during, corrupt governments, is it not?

Some of their opponents have said that they avoided a full review for one reason only, their Carbon Monoxide packaged meat, might not pass a full review and their product may not be safe, but apparently, they really don't care, now do they? They fear an FDA review, which colorants/additives must have in order to be used...not that we would trust any officers appointed by war criminals and terminal liars. How can men and women, twist their consciences, and covertly sell foodstuffs to people and refuse to reveal what the additives are and at the same time add something to meat and not call it an additive? However, the larger question is, how can they pervert/subvert their conscience's for the sake of profit and material gain?

Opponents of their approach do not have kind words to say about the FDA. "The FDA should not have accepted carbon monoxide in meat without doing its own independent evaluation of the safety implications," Elizabeth Campbell, former head of the FDA's office of food labeling, said in a statement released recently.

However, predictably, Ann Boeckman, a lawyer with the Washington law firm Hogan & Hartson, which represents Precept Foods LLC, a joint venture between Hormel Foods Corporation and Cargill Meat Solutions Corporation which were among the creators, applicators of the technology, disagrees, "When a product reaches the point of spoilage, there will be other signs that will be evidenced -- for example odor, slime formation and a bulging package -- so the product will not smell or look right." We already debunked that "argument" which under the circumstances sounds specious to many.

Don Berdahl, a vice president and the laboratory director at Kalsec Foods in Kalamazoo, Michigan, which makes of natural food extracts that has formally asked the FDA to ban the use of Carbon Monoxide. "This meat stays red and stays red and stays red," he says.
Kalsec admits that they have an interest in fighting the practice. They sell extract of rosemary and many other natural herbs, which assist in blocking oxidation, which turns meat brown. Their critics say that if the Carbon Monoxide system continues Kalsec's clients would go to the lower-oxygen atmospheres and carbon monoxide, which keeps meat looking red almost indefinitely. However, there is nothing to stop Kalsec from using the same CO, but perhaps they have something missing from their competitors-a conscience?

Kalsec, points out that the European Union has banned the use of Carbon Monoxide as a color stabilizer in fish and meat. In December 2001 there was a report from the European Commission's Scientific Committee on Food which concluded that Carbon Monoxide (CO) didn't pose a risk if food was kept cold enough from slaughter to retail outlet to prevent microbial growth. However, that is short term and thinking as incomplete and displaying of a low IQ, as the non-plan for a "war" in Iraq, which would be the comedy act of the century had not 1.5 Million been murdered and more maimed. If, in any number of possibilities, which is the way in which intellectual, scientific minds should think; planning out every possible matter, leaving not even pebbles unturned, for in any number of possibilities all of which have quite common, should the meat become accidentally warmer at some point, "the presence of CO may mask visual evidence of spoilage."

"How is it," Berdahl, I and others ask, that something can be declared "generally recognized as safe" when there is a lack of evidence scientific or debate over the issue, and the Europeans found enough danger to ban throughout Europe? Berdahl says, "I just picture a refrigerator truck breaking down in Arizona and sitting there for an afternoon. Then, 'Hey, we got it repaired and nobody knows the difference,' and there you go." I tried to reach Mr. Berdahl for a further quote but was unable to receive a reply before posting.

His allies also say that the FDA was in error to declare Carbon Monoxide a "color fixative" rather than a color additive. Interesting, is it not? Because additives must pass a stiff FDA review. They cite that freshly cut meat looks purplish, and that the adding of Carbon Monoxide, binding to myoglobin, makes it's color irreversibly red/pink.
The gasbags, err, their adversaries, say that meat goes from purple to red just from sitting in air, and that Carbon Monoxide simply eliminates the next step which makes meat go brown. They also claim that buyers should pay more attention to "sell or freeze by" dates as the best most accurate indicators of freshness, which is another load of HS, because if we can't trust them to label the food telling the consumer that they treated it with Carbon Monoxide and be proud of their product, why should we trust their label dates or the stores which buy from them? I have always been a strong meat eater, but I buy 99.5% of my protein-meat and fish from Whole Foods and other such organic grocers. However, I, the greatest proponent of good meat eating, has, the last few years, gone from meat 3-4 times a day, to meat, at most, once or twice every other day.

Bucky Gwartney, executive director for research and knowledge management for the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, chafes at the idea that the industry is trying to fool consumers. He chafes? Send him some Vaseline or herbal oil. Where is Wyatt Earp when you need him most?

Gwartney goes on to say, "It would be ludicrous for a company to adopt a process that would undermine what we all want, which is to assure that food is safe. Maybe it needs to be more transparent and public," he acknowledged. "If that's what we need to do, we'll probably do that as an industry." We certainly hope so. It is always wise when lying by omission fails to tell the truth, but better if one starts with the truth.
Well, at least that is a start. Industry seems, now, if has anything to say about it, a bit more believable than Mr. George H. Pauli, whose attitude is the only thing we can see that is worse than his behavior.

Some people will continue to do anything to make a profit and they hope that by force they can, with the support of the Bushites, force us gagging, to swallow their swill, both of the verbal and meat rotting variety. The attitude of Bushites and their followers has always been, force it upon, them then they have no choice they will knuckle under! Perhaps Mr. Gwartney has the right idea now, let's wait and see. Maybe there is at least one decent person in the packaged meat business.

However, there is a secondary reason to avoid such "case ready" meat, is that they are eliminating butchers from grocery stores. So, this is an easy one for me, don't buy any packaged meat, and don't buy from a grocery store that has either none, or a skeleton staff of butchers.

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Professor Bagnolo has majored in: Cultural Anthropology, Architectural design, painting, creative writing. As a child prodigy, abed with polio for almost two years, he was offered an opportunity to skip three grades at age 8.
Later He was a (more...)

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