Food Forensics by Mike Adams

Author:Mike Adams [Adams, Mike]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781940363462
Publisher: BenBella Books, Inc.

Carbon monoxide

Carbon monoxide (CO), the notorious odorless killer gas, is used as a color preservative in meat and seafood products to maintain a reddish color that gives the appearance of fresh meat and lasts for up to three weeks.773 Retail cuts are packaged in gas mixtures containing less than 0.5 percent CO. It is approved for use and generally recognized as safe by the FDA.774

Though studies have claimed that the low level of gas used is safe and a highly improbable toxic threat,775 critics have called attention to its use on the basis of potential consumer fraud, by potentially making old foods seem fresh.776,777 If meats or fish appear fresh even after they are past their prime, shoppers could be duped into purchasing spoiled meats, filled with dangerous microbes, which could be hazardous if consumed.778

In addition, low-level chronic exposure to breathing carbon monoxide can cause amnesia, headaches, memory loss, behavioral issues, loss of muscle and bladder control, and vision impairment, although no studies have considered the effects of long-term CO ingestion.779

All in all, the use of such a well-known toxin in food preservation holds a creepy overtone—one more cosmetic agent of food mummification.

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