Something Stinks, and It’s Not Your Do-ahead Gravy

In last Wednesday’s Star Tribune, Kevin Diaz reported on Hormel and Cargill CEOs testifying about the modified atmosphere packaging that allows for storing meat and other foods in an oxygen-depleted environment, then pumping the meat with carbon monoxide, making it shelf stable for up to twenty days, and it retains all it’s original bright red color. I have all the respect in the world for many of the local politicians on all sides of this issue, but if you take the position that the process preserves freshness and minimizes contamination as Cargill and Hormel do, and if you really believe this is a positive step for food safety as they do, then the least you could do is stick a BIG FAT LABEL on the meat that tells everyone how old the stuff is. I happen to think the practice is deceptive and is a scarily, but weakly, disguised attempt to get us to relieve the giant food companies of old meat that otherwise ends up in the garbage. You can say as many times as you like that it’s about preserving freshness, but it is simply a matter of baiting consumers into buying old meat that looks fresh and keeping meat shelf stable without freezing it. Why not simply sell fresh meat as fresh meat; then freeze the stuff before throwing it away in the supermarkets and sell that at a discount? And if you believe in the product and the new science so much, why not simply label it as “CO gassed” with large “made-on” dates? Hormel and Cargill have offered to label the product with a “color is not an accurate indicator of freshness” warning. Why create a process like this and then label it as such? Isn’t this an obvious mea culpa? Thoughts?

Speaking of freshness . . . for those looking to make do-ahead gravy for the holidays:

Do-Ahead Gravy
3 lb. poultry wings and backs
2 c. chopped onion and celery
4 c. chicken or turkey stock
3 T. flour
3 T. butter
1/2 c. cream (if you like)
salt and pepper to taste
herb sprig as needed

Chop the onion and celery, and place in a large brownie pan. Roast the poultry wings and backs on top of the chopped onion and celery. Season and cook at 350 degrees for 75 minutes. Remove from stove, pour off any accumulated liquid/fat, and return to oven for 10 minutes. Onions under the bird bits should be golden brown around edges, and poultry should be crisp-gold. Skim fat from liquid and discard, returning the liquid to pan along with the chicken or turkey stock. Simmer on a stove top for 10 minutes to loosen the sticky bits, pour contents of the pan into a small pot, and simmer covered for 50 minutes. You can add an herb sprig here if you like. Uncover, strain well, discard solids, and reduce liquid to 2-1/2 cups.

Set aside, and place the flour and butter in a saucepan, and cook for a few minutes over medium heat. Add the hot gravy liquid in thirds, whisking, and bring to a slow boil. Cook for 3–5 minutes, add cream, if you like, or season with salt and pepper, and serve as is. I do mine ahead to make life easy on Thursday. Happy Thanksgiving.

Comments

[Alexis]

Total mea culpa. Label that!

The meatpacking industry has been doing this for a long time, correct? Because I've been telling my carnivorous friends for years that the meat they're eating is probably weeks old. This is similar to what's done to non-organic produce, right? The perfect red tomatoes and bright yellow bananas that take forever to turn brown.

[Passing on it]

Yet another reason to know your producer and make sure you buy meat, poultry and fish that isn't adulterated. "Tailpipe tri-tip" indeed. Do you think the price is going to go down any because of this? Disgusting.

[comment]

I love a good steak as much as the next guy and perhaps even more. The fresher the meat the better, an obvious point that any connoisseur will well know. A quick point or two, though:

For future reference, since this is in the news quite a bit, CO = Carbon MONoxide, a product of ill-combusted fossil fuels that, in higher concentrations (667 ppm), will dangerously displace oxygen in hemoglobin within the blood (toxic). CO2 = Carbon DIoxide, a greenhouse gas that is naturally produced during respiration in humans and animals (in addition to cars and power plants as we so often read), is also dangerous, but an entirely different beast.

Secondly, according to the news outlet I read (http://www.startribune.com/10223/story/1548852.html), it is already required that dates be well posted on the product. The meat packing industry, it seems, doesn't want to give the impression that its product is poisonous (which, one would be led to believe, it is not, due to the very low concentration of CO), but is willing to include labels such as: "color is not an accurate indicator of freshness," and somehow further "urg[e] customers to follow the [posted] 'use or freeze by" dates.'" To me, these steps seem to be a reasonable way to ensure that I get a delicious and gorgeous slab of goodness to throw on my grill.

It should also be noted that, according to the article (which is, honestly, all I can go off of), the opponents of this technology are made up of a group that would like to market an alternative meat-appearance-preservative that essentially involves spray painting the meat red. Does that really make any more sense? Or, for that matter, seem more appetizing?

Just some points to consider. Thanks for the great work!

[DN]

Everything in the fresh meat case, including the product using this technology, has a 'sell by' date on it.

[Samantha Hoyt Lindgren]

Practices like this make my blood boil. Especially because most folks, your average consumer, have no idea that this stuff is being done. For those who only have one choice of supermarket within 100 miles, they are stuck with whatever their Super Walmart offers. It is no wonder Americans are so unhealthy. Why did commerce become more important than the family meal? People put more time and thought into purchasing a cell phone than their dinner. I suppose we get the food we deserve...
The Cargill and Hormel execs should be forced to feed their families this old meat.

[Joanna]

No meat, no problem.

[Patty]

I just rented Fast Food Nation and this practice would surely fall into the same category. How long before we start hearing stories about people get sick on this meat. I agree that these decision makers should use their own families as the test market!!

[AS]

A lot of the tuna sold in Twin Cities restaurants is treated with this process. It tends to turn low grade ahi a deep bright red color. This practice is the result of spike in tuna prices over the last 10 years. The carbon monoxide treated stuff is usually $8-$10 a pound wholesale while the real thing is in the upper teens (or higher).

[David]

If I knew the age of this meat I would NEVER buy it at the store. I grew up on a farm and am used to fresh produce and meat. This is just plain deception on their part. I would say borderline false advertising if not for the fact the consumer has no idea how old the meat is.
I used to buy the Hormel marinated pork tenderloins. Now, I will have to give serious consideration on wether or not to buy this when I am running short on time.
Thanks Andrew for keeping us informed!

[C Larkin]

Well, I'm not exactly sure where "Passing on it"'s head is OR where he works, but I'd agree with you, Andrew. All I have to say to Hormell & Cargill is: As a consumer, I want to know both WHETHER the meat I'm buying has been injected with WHATEVER and WHEN ~ so I'll know NOT to purchase that meat. Which is probably exactly why they eschew such labeling! {Followthemoneye&takenoresponsibility!]
CHEERS!

[Christina Larson]

Good grief. Well, packaging old meat in a carbon monoxide atmosphere would certainly explain why the outer 1/4 to 1/3 inch of a cut is bright pink and the interior is often dark red to grey-brown when I'm slicing it raw getting ready for stir-frying. This is caused by the exact same process that can cause a "smoke ring" to form in meats that are grilled in low-oxygen atmospheres (where carbon monoxide forms naturally due to incomplete combustion).

Carbon monoxide, you see, colors meat and blood bright red because the CO is "grabbier" for myoglobin (in the muscle) and hemoglobin (in the blood) than oxygen is. Therefore CO pushes out the oxygen in the hemoglobin groups. The hemoglobin stays in its bright red form even though it's holding CO, not O2.

In fact, an animal gasping for breath, with no apparent injuries and a nice 'healthy' bright red color on the mucous membranes is automatically suspect for carbon monoxide poisoning.

But back to the topic of meat. Unfortunately, the bright pink ring plus off-color interior is visible testament to the fact that only the margins of the meat get saturated by carbon monoxide. The oxygen in the interior of the meat stays, and is free to do its oxidative damage. It leaves the myoglobin groups and reacts with the other molecules in the cells... which is one of the effects that eventually causes off-tastes and deterioration.

Carbon monoxide saturation, then, simply kills bacteria on the surface and perhaps the margins of the meat interior that need oxygen to grow. And of course it colors the meat a nice "fresh" reddish-pink color on the surface, fooling the unknowing consumer who then gets home and is baffled at why the interior looks old. If they even notice. Caveat emptor.

I agree, any meat that can't be sold when it still has its original natural nice pink color should be flash-frozen and sold as frozen meat, not fresh. Yes, freezing changes texture et al., but preferable to companies selling us old-looking meat as fresh.