Special Report: Seeing Red

Shopper
"Definitely this looks like it's fresher."

7News
"This meat has actually been sitting out for 10 days."

Shopper
"Oh my gosh. I would find that hard to believe."

Here's how it happens. The FDA allows meat to be packaged using a hi-tech process that literally gasses it, taking the oxygen out of the packaging and pumping in other gases including carbon monoxide.

This scientific sealing allows the meat to look fresh for a long time, very often way past its prime.

Shopper
"Oh, so I was fooled."

And you may be too.

7News bought both "gas treated" and "un-treated" ground beef packages and left them unrefrigerated for more than a week.

Day 1: both look good enough to eat.
Day 2: check out the color.
Day 5: a dramatic difference. The beef in the "un-treated" package is getting gross, but the "gas treated" package of meat still looks fresh.

After 10 days meat in the "un-treated" package is spoiled and so is the "gas treated" package of beef, but you'd never know by looking at it. See how it retains its rich red color.

We then asked people to choose between a fresh, "un-treated" package of ground beef we bought the night before and our 10 day old "treated" meat that only looked fresh.

Shopper
"This one looks fresher than this one."

Shopper
"I would purchase that one strictly on the color."

Shopper
"I'd say this one looks fresher."

It was unanimous. They all chose the "treated" meat. And when people found out just how old our bright red beef really was...

Shopper
"Are you serious? No sir. Oh my God."

Shopper
"Wow, that's really, that's really gross."

Shopper
"I'm amazed, yes, I really am because I looked at this and thought eww."

This special process of gassing packages of meat is not illegal. It's been widely used since 2003 and the small amount of carbon monoxide used does not pose a health threat.

Janet Riley, American Meat Institute
"This has been accepted as safe and appropriate for consumers by [the] FDA."

But critics say it's dangerously deceptive, because the meat still looks edible even after it's gone bad.

The law does not require any special labeling on meat packages like this. And some Massachusetts lawmakers want to change that.

Rep. Edward Markey, (D) Massachusetts
"This is a deceptive practice to market meat and fish to consumers in a way that was misleading them."

But the meat industry is biting back saying color shouldn't be the only factor in determining freshness.

Janet Riley, American Meat Institute
"Consumers should not be consuming products that are past their use by dates. But other signals that a product has spoiled would include a slimy or slippery appearance, a bulging package and a noticeable odor."

And this gassing process isn't just used for beef. Carbon monoxide is also used to package other meats like pork and lamb, as well as some fish.

Not all supermarkets sell meat packaged with carbon monoxide. The only way to know for sure is to ask your grocer. That way, when you buy meat, you won't end up "Seeing Red." 

(Copyright 2007 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)