Bart Stupak: “carbon monoxide added to meat packaging is deceptive for consumers. Blasting meat with carbon monoxide makes spoiled…”

“carbon monoxide added to meat packaging is deceptive for consumers. Blasting meat with carbon monoxide makes spoiled meat appear to be red, wholesome, healthy when its really dangerous to eat. Although it is well known that consumers rely heavily on color to evaluate the freshness of meat, the FDA has not required the use of carbon monoxide in the packaging of meat to be labeled. Consumers, therefore, have no way of knowing whether the meat has been treated, and they can no longer rely on color to judge the freshness and safety of treated meat. Here's meat we left out for 27 hours. The top's been treated with carbon monoxide, the bottom has not. The bottom is brown and nasty. The top looks fresh and wholesome. Eat either one of these packages of meat and you'll become very ill. For this reason, I will today introduce the Carbon Monoxide Treated Foods Safe Handling, Labeling and Consumer Protection Act. This legislation is needed to help prevent consumer deception and serious risk to our public health.”