STORM2K

By JANET ST. JAMES / WFAA ABC 8

It's a safe bet that steak sliced while the customer watches is fresh.

But shoppers who think they can spot older meat by the color... may be fooled.

Some meat packers are quietly exposing pork and beef to safe levels of carbon monoxide... just before packaging.

Carbon monoxide keeps meat looking red -- but not necessarily fresh -- for weeks.

David Duerr, an expert at Central Market, says meat should not be judged by color alone.

"It will give you a lot longer shelf-life."

Everything at the butcher block here is cut daily.

After a day or two, raw beef naturally goes a bit brown.

"No, that doesn't mean it's bad. It's just something that air's been exposed to it. It's still a good steak," Duerr adds.

Consumer advocates say the danger of carbon monoxide and meat is that buyers could be misled into buying products that have gone bad.

Steak, which looks fresh, can be 8-days-old and can have e-coli.

"So we're worried that potentially you could have product that has this high pathogen load and that somebody won't know it because they'll perceive it to be fresh," says Donna Rosenbaum.

Industry experts say consumers who buy pre-packaged meats should rely on the sell-by date or buy from the butcher block to be sure the beef is safe.

i took a food microbiology class last semester. Basically ground meats are the least safe. those should be cooked through. Those that like their burgers rare are not playing it safe.

JQ Public wrote:i took a food microbiology class last semester. Basically ground meats are the least safe. those should be cooked through. Those that like their burgers rare are not playing it safe.

That's why our family always buys the meat and then ground it ourselves.

This whole "controversy" is way overblown. Color is but one of many indicators of bad meat, and it's the least reliable of all of them anyway. If you must buy meat at the grocery store, check it for smell, and make sure the package isn't bulging. The best option is to go to a butcher shop for meat. It will generally be both less expensive and higher quality than that available at your grocery store. If your grocery has a built-in butcher shop, the meat will be high quality but will probably be more epxensive than that at a stand-alone butcher shop.

there are no butcher shops where we live, and it's tough to smell something once it's wrapped in plastic. i always check the date. and once i get it home, and open it, if it smells funky, i take it back.