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Recently, I went shopping for meat and noticed that the beef that was being sold looked bright red even though it was late in the afternoon and the piece of meat had probably been sitting in the front of the display case all day. I had a gut feeling that something was wrong. Were all of these meats looking good because of red lights or because of some preservative? With those questions in mind, I did a little investigation for myself.
Traditionally, shoppers use color to determine whether or not a piece of fish or meat is fresh.
 
However, this method no longer works because the food industry has figured out a way to alter the "environment" or more appropriately called "modified atmospheres" by adding carbon monoxide. Yes, that is the same gas that comes out from your car's tailpipe that can kill you if you breathe too much of it. And did you know that when people die from carbon monoxide poisoning, they look bright red like they got a bad second-degree sunburn?
So how exactly does carbon monoxide make the meat of tuna fish, steak, and other red color meats look bright red even if it has spoiled?
Well, myoglobin is the muscle pigment that serves to carry oxygen to the working muscles when the fish is alive. When the fish is cut up, oxygen comes into contact with myoglobin in the exposed tuna meat surface. The oxygen is absorbed and reacts with the myoglobin to form a bright red pigment (oxymyoygobin), which brings about the attractive red color of fresh tuna meat.
However, with storage over a period of time and continued exposure to oxygen, the red color of the meat gradually changes into various shades of brown due to oxidation and conversion of the oxymyoglobin to a brown pigment (metmyoglobin). This is how we can tell that the fish is no longer fresh.
However, when we treat the fish or beef with carbon monoxide the fish or beef remains bright red even if it's spoiled! So we as consumers can no longer judge whether or not a piece of meat is fresh or spoiled simply by looking.
The only other choice would be to use one's nose, however that gets rather difficult if there is a sheet of cellophane between your nose and the piece of meat or fish.
I personally love eating sushi and the Japanese restaurant that I go to buys fresh tuna at least a couple times a week directly from the wharf. But when you or I attempt to buy frozen tuna, not freshly cut from the carcass, the odds are that the tuna has been carbon monoxided.
Apparently, it would seem that the FDA would like for us to ignore the fact that carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas and that we should believe that pumping small amounts of carbon monoxide into a small package of meat is supposedly "safe".
If the issue is oxygen and the oxidative process that turns the meats brown, why don't we use nitrogen instead? Food cooked under the condition of nitrogen stays fresh for 5-10 years and it also does not change the color of the meat to bright red.
The point here is that there are other means to preserve meats with non-toxic gasses without also causing them to glow bright red and not being able to tell when the meats have spoiled.
According to an article in e-Alert "live for the moment", in 2004 the FDA approved the use of modified atmosphere packaging (also known as MAP), which use a variety of gases to help preserve meat and in the case of carbon monoxide, keeps the meat looking fresh. Considering that this was done one year after the European Union banned the use of carbon monoxide because a review panel decided that it would deceive consumers and expose them to unsafe meat.
I wouldn't call that exactly looking out for the consumers' well being, would you?
Note that the frozen package of tuna is quite significantly redder than the above sushi and this is one of the ways you can tell that the tuna fish has gone through "altered environment" with carbon monoxide.
"We've got to think outside the box. I won't stand here and say it's all rosy. We do have challenges, but they are challenges that can be met."
--George O'Grady
"We understand that you can't transform people who don't have internal drive and desire to create. But we also know it doesn't work to urge people to think outside the box without giving them the tools to climb out."
--Laurie Dunnavant
Inner Garden™
a.k.a. Cultured Molasses
Inner Garden™ is a multi-family, multi-species, soil-based microorganism Probiotic blended brew of minerals, molasses and water, and then fermented. The product is no longer sweet but rather sour at a pH of 3.5 - 3.7.
This product has many applications.
Our customers use Inner Garden™ for the following applications:
For digestion and indigestion:
When one's digestion is improper and/or imbalanced, generally the whole body goes acidic. This acidic condition then promotes an ideal environment for pathogenic disease forming conditions. So, consuming Inner Garden™ allows one to digest food better and lessen acidic conditions, thus creating an environment not so conducive for things like Candida to survive.
Food Poisoning:
IG has also proven helpful in cases of food poisoning. To handle FOOD POISONING: consume 8 oz in two parts. The first 4-oz MAY induce vomiting to purge the toxic materials out of the body fast. Then immediately consume the second 4-oz. This second dose pushes the remaining toxins through the body. My experience is that the food poisoning is usually totally over in 30 - 45 minutes instead of days of agony.
Handling Bleeding Gums and Tightening Teeth:
Bacteria builds up in the pockets between the gum and tooth. This is where lots of acids and calculus (calcium build up) form, which irritates the gum and thus starts to receding process of the gums and bone.
By brushing your teeth and rinsing your teeth with IG, you will correct the bad acidic environment and change it to an environment, which promotes healthy gums and teeth.
Many people have claimed that brushing with IG has saved their loose teeth and prevented gum surgery. One should definitely go to your dentist to get your teeth scaled and cleaned, so calculus is not present to irritate the gums.
--For eye infections, dilute the solution 1/2 to 1/3 dilution with clean water and rinse eye thoroughly several times a day.
--For extending raw milk & cream (this does NOT apply to homogenized milk): Mix in 1 - 2 teaspoons of IG per gal. of milk & 1 teaspoon per qt. of cream (more than this and it will begin to turn into yogurt).
Attention Organic Gardeners & Farmers
When spraying on living plants and soil containing living plants, a 1:500 (1 part- Inner Garden™: 500 parts water or 1 table spoon per gallon). DO NOT EVER spray stronger than this dilution on living plants or you'll end up composting them! Call for more information on how to make good soils, compost, and other farm relates issues.
There are several other applications such as floor washing, air freshener, removal of odors, reduction of paint odors and toxicity, as well as cleaning ponds, rivers, lakes and oceans.
This is the Dawn of the New Millennium and the old regime is rapidly decaying.
This week I talk about food irradiation, tri-sodium phosphate in you noodle soups, and carbon monoxide treated food.
"Prosperity is a way of living and thinking, and not just money or things. Poverty is a way of living and thinking, and not just a lack of money or things."
--Eric Butterworth
Flourish and Prosper! |
