Some seething debate is on the go in the US over the use of carbon monoxide (CO) to maintain the fresh red colour of meat. BRIGHT red is the first prize in merchandising meat, only problem is that meat quickly oxidizes and turns purply brown, puttingoff consumer purchase. In solving this issue, the meat industry in the US has quietly begun to spike meat packages with carbon monoxide (CO) that, harmless to health at the levels being used, gives meat a bright pink colour. CO binds with the meat pigment myoglobin to create carboxymyoglobin, turning it irreversibly pink. The hope is that it will save the industry much of the 1 billion dollar it loses annually from having to discount or discard meat that is reasonably fresh and perfectly safe but no longer appealing.
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