Support from Congress, Consumer Groups
 

On June 2, 2008, six groups - Food and Water Watch, the Consumer Federation of America, Safe Tables Our Priority, Consumers Union, National Consumers League and the Government Accountability Project - sent letters to Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt and Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer urging their departments' agencies to act to address the use of CO in meat packaging once and for all.

A deceptive and questionable food technology approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration is putting consumers’ health at risk, according to a new report released April 3, 2008 by Food & Water Watch. The report entitled Carbon Monoxide: Masking the Truth About Meat? details the use of this toxic gas in meat and fish packaging to create a red color typically associated with freshness –– a practice that is considered misleading and unsafe by several consumer groups.

On February 13, 2008, Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, Food & Water Watch, Government Accountability Project, National Consumers League, and Safe Tables Our Priority – S.T.O.P. wrote Wal-Mart about reports that it has been market-testing the use of over-wrap packaging in mother bags on certain fresh beef and pork products.

On October 12, 2007, Giant Food and The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company responded to the inquiry from the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Both companies will "discontinue" the use of carbon-monoxide treated meats.

On September 13, 2007, the House of Representatives Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, John D. Dingell (MI), and Bart Stupak (MI), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, demanded that Target Corporation and Giant Food respond to concerns about the public health risks posed by meat treated with carbon monoxide.

On September 5, 2007, Food and Water Watch wrote Giant and Laura’s Lean Beef Company urging them to stop treating case-ready meats with carbon monoxide.

On July 27, 2007, the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations sent a letter asking several important questions to FDA Commissioner Andrew C. von Eschenbach, M.D. requesting that the agency clarify its decision-making process in considering carbon monoxide containing packaging as “Generally Recognized as Safe.”

On July 25, 2007, Food and Water Watch issued a news release about Congress' effort to address CO meat.

On July 19, 2007, U.S. House Representative Bart Stupak (MI) introduced legislation that would require that CO meat is labeled as such. Reps. Edward J. Markey (MA) and Rosa DeLauro (CT) joined as original co-sponsors of the bill.

On July 16, 2007, Safeway responded to the inquiry from the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The supermarket chain has “elected to discontinue” the sale of carbon-monoxide treated meats.

On June 26, 2007, the House of Representatives Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, John D. Dingell (MI), and Bart Stupak (MI), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, demanded that Safeway Stores and three major meat packaging companies respond to concerns about the public health risks posed by meat treated with carbon monoxide.

On January 18, 2007, the Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union Food & Water Watch, Government Accountability Project National Consumers League and Safe Tables Our Priority wrote to Congress urging the ban of the use of Carbon Monoxide in modified atmosphere packaging.

On September 25, 2006, the Consumer Federation of America released a study showing that three out of four consumers were either very concerned or somewhat concerned about the practice of adding carbon monoxide (CO) to meat to make the meat appear bright red for up to several weeks longer than untreated meat.


Several members of Congress have written to the FDA in dismay about the FDA’s acceptance of the use of carbon monoxide in fresh meat packaging.

In addition, the Consumer Federation of America (CFA), an association of 300 consumer groups representing 50 million Americans, Safe Tables Our Priority (STOP), a non-profit watchdog group, and Food & Water Watch, a non-profit organization dedicated to food and water safety, have also written to the FDA asking the agency to ban this practice. Recently, CFA and STOP wrote to the Chicago City Council in support of a proposed ordinance banning the sale of carbon monoxide-treated case ready meat within city limits.