WASHINGTON - The American Meat Institute opposes labeling meats that have undergone modified atmosphere packaging using carbon monoxide, the trade group said last week, in the wake of a controversy surrounding the system.
The process, CO MAP, uses a combination of gases to displace oxygen in meat packaging to slow oxidation and help meat maintain its red color for weeks.
Opponents contend the process masks the true freshness and safety of the meats, since color cannot be used as an indicator of spoilage. Consumers have no way of knowing which case-ready meats are packaged this way.
"There are a plethora of different systems for packaging out there and it doesn't seem to us that CO MAP warrants a label, any more than any other packaging methods," said Mark Dopp, AMI's senior vice president of regulatory affairs and general counsel, during a media briefing. "There are a whole host of products that use MAP but they don't require a special label. What's different in this case is CO MAP technology threatens the livelihood of Kalsec."
Kalsec, the Michigan-based producer of a natural food extract that delays the browning of meat, petitioned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to repeal its approval of CO MAP on the basis that the process is unsafe and deceptive to consumers.
About 60% of meat products use some form of modified-air packaging, and 5% of those products use CO, according to James Hodges, president, AMI Foundation.
Since the controversy erupted last month, AMI has worked strenuously to communicate its side of the story to the media, said AMI spokeswoman Janet Riley.
"We've literally participated in hundreds of television interviews, we've created backgrounders for [retailer] customers and we've created a special 90-minute session at our upcoming meat conference in Dallas to address the issue," Riley said.
AMI did not have data on how the controversy may have impacted sales of case-ready meats.
"I've talked to our members and we're amazed at the absence of consumer inquiries about this issue," she said. "We've been on literally every television network and usually [when we do that] we get a lot of consumer feedback."
Kroger Co., Cincinnati, which sold packages of beef patties and chili meat packaged using CO MAP, said it would stop selling the treated products. Officials at New York-based D'Agostino Supermarkets, said they will keep the Laura's Lean Beef and Creekstone Farms brand products that use CO MAP. Riley said she was not aware of any AMI members who plan to change their packaging processes.
Several MAP systems are on the market, said Mel Hunt, chairman of the food science & industry department at Kansas State University.
"Consumers should cheer that there are case-ready meats with higher quality, longer shelf lives and more nutrition than traditional packaging systems can provide," Hunt said.
