Red meat can be a wonderful thing. But we're not so sure about meat that is red because it has been subjected to a gas found in car exhaust.
Apparently, the U.S. Agriculture Department has no such qualms, even though the safety of using carbon monoxide to keep older cuts of meat looking red and fresh has been questioned recently. During a congressional hearing this month, scientists testified that the tests leading to approval of the technology in 2004 may have been faulty.
While most evidence suggests that the practice poses little danger to consumers, the hearings did result in some headway for opponents of using carbon monoxide on meat. Chief executives of both Cargill and Hormel, two of the nation's largest meat producers, said they were willing to put labels on their carbon monoxide-treated meats.
