Why Supermarket Meat is Always (Unnaturally) Red

The dirty little secret about why supermarket and large healthfood store display cases of meat are always uniformly red will hopefully motivate you to buy from local businesses instead!

The picture above shows the stark, visual difference between organic ground beef purchased from Whole Foods (on the right) versus local, grassfed ground beef from a butcher (on the left).

Notice also how the red color of the meat on the right looks decidedly fake.

The picture shows what the meat looks like after I put both packages in the refrigerator after purchasing on the same day…and then opening them up a couple of days later to see the color of the meat!

Things aren’t always as they appear, are they?

Bright Red Supermarket Meat

Have you ever wondered why the supermarket meat display case is always red..so bright red, in fact, that it looks fake?

Is it possible that every package on display was freshly cut that day?

If you’ve talked to a supermarket meat manager before or have a butcher in the family, you know this is simply not the case.

While some new cuts are put out every day, many of the meat packages have been sitting in the display case for two, three, four days, or even longer.

Most consumers never stop to wonder about this, but anyone who has ever purchased meat from a small farm or a local butcher knows that this is not a natural occurrence.

Once meat becomes exposed to air, oxidation begins which gradually turns the red color of the meat to a more unappetizing brown or grey color within just a few days.

This never seems to happen to supermarket meat, does it?  

The meat is uniformly red not various shades of red, brown, and grey which would be truly reflective of when the meat department put each package in the display case.

What’s really going on here?

Carbon Monoxide Turns Meat Red Even if Spoiled

The fact is that as much as 70 percent of meat sold in stores in the United States is treated with carbon monoxide to keep the meat a deceptively fresh-looking red color.

Even more disturbing, Europe banned this practice many years ago because it was deemed unsafe! Japan and Canada have banned carbon monoxide as a color stabilizer in meat and fish as well. (1)

What is carbon monoxide anyway?

It is an odorless, colorless, poisonous gas that is almost impossible to see, taste, or smell.

It is emitted from car exhaust pipes, gas-powered lawnmowers, chimneys, gas stoves (if not used properly), unvented space heaters, and charcoal grills.

The industrialized meat industry (aka Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations – CAFO) insists that treatment with carbon monoxide, called “modified atmosphere packaging” (MAP), is necessary due to the difficulty of keeping meat at the proper temperature while in grocery store coolers. (2)

The internal temperature of retail meat is not supposed to exceed 39° Fahrenheit (4° Celsius) at any time.

An increase of just a degree or two can result in an enormous increase in bacterial growth. (3)

For example, raising the temperature from 28°F (-2° C) to 29°F (-1.5° C) can cut the shelf life of meat in half.

The problem stems from ultraviolet light from the grocery store display lights heating up the surface temperature of the meat much higher than the thermometer reading in the display case.

This occurs due to the penetration of the UV light into the meat packaging similar to how our skin can burn even on a very cold day when the sun is shining.

Due to the struggles with temperature consistency, atmospheric packaging was developed.

When meat is exposed to carbon monoxide, it reacts with the myoglobin in the blood giving the meat a bright red color.

Fresh beef is naturally red, and as it ages, it becomes brownish or grey.

Gassing beef with carbon monoxide keeps it looking artificially fresh for up to a full year!

This occurs by restricting the growth of bacteria that proliferate from the increased heat of supermarket meat display cases.

Is Eating Carbon Monoxide Dangerous?

Carbon monoxide is fatal if inhaled in large amounts because the CO molecule attaches to hemoglobin in the blood and replaces oxygen in the bloodstream.

Even minor exposure can cause fatigue, headaches, and confusion.

Increasing exposure leads to unconsciousness and then death. 

Individuals who are fortunate enough to survive poisoning with carbon monoxide frequently continue to suffer from neurological problems.

Despite the danger, consumer groups have been unsuccessful in recent years to stop the deceptive practice of treating supermarket meat with carbon monoxide.

True to form, the industrialized meat industry says that, unlike inhalation, carbon monoxide is not harmful when it is ingested via meat treated with atmospheric packaging.

Translation: “We NEED to gas the meat to maximize our profits and hide dangerous industry food handling practices from the public”.

The industrialized meat industry also insists that “modified atmosphere packaging” is necessary to keep meat affordable as consumers won’t buy brown meat even if it’s still fine to eat. (4)

This causes meat that is perfectly good for sale to be thrown out unnecessarily.

Hmmm.

How come local meat producers and supermarkets in the EU, Canada, and Japan don’t seem to have this problem and yet they DON’T gas their meat??

Sounds like gaslighting to me!

Ann Boeckman, a lawyer with a legal firm for the meat industry, says consumers needn’t worry about fake red supermarket meat.

When a product reaches the point of spoilage, there will be other signs that will be evidenced–for example odor, slime formation and a bulging package–so the product will not smell or look right. (5)

Don’t you feel so much better after reading that statement?

No worries about supermarket meat that looks fresh when it’s not.

You’ll know there’s a problem by the bad smell and the slimy feel of rotting meat even though it still looks bright red and ready to throw on the grill.

Just keep buying that fake red supermarket meat (along with the fake pink sustainable salmon) and stop complaining, ok?

It’s cheap, right? That’s all that is supposed to count for consumers anyway!

Where to Find Healthy Grassfed Meats

If this sounds ridiculous to you as it does to me and the lure of cheap food is just a little less appealing after reading this article, consider a switch to small farm-produced, grass-fed meats by clicking here.

Online shopping for quality meat has now gone mainstream and is a fantastic way to get quality meat shipped to your door even if you live in a “food desert”.

Alternatively, you can spend a few dollars and have a copy of the Weston A. Price Shopping Guide mailed to you.

Let your fingers do the walking to find a safe source of quality meat for your family that is surprisingly affordable.

As always, a locally owned butcher shop where they grind the meat fresh for every customer who comes through the door is an excellent way to go.

References

(1) Your Meat Is Treated with Carbon Monoxide to Make It Look Fresh
(2, 5) We’re Eating What? 9 Contaminants in US Meat
(3) Carbon Added to Meat Inhibits Bacteria Growth
(4) Carbon Monoxide keeps meat red longer; is that good?