kelolalaut.com - Carbon monoxide (CO) is often used in small amounts as a food additive and approved by the FDA. The FDA recognized a concentration of 0.4% CO as generally recognized safe and permitted CO as a primary packaging gas in a case-ready packaging system. So, it has a history of application within the meat/fish industry as a color enhancer due to its color-stabilizing effects. Consumers use “color” as a reliance quality cue to determine whether a product is safe and fresh to consume and color determines the consumer’s perceived quality of meat.

CO is described as an odorless, tasteless, and colorless gas that is produced by the incomplete combustion of carbon-containing materials. CO can readily bind to myoglobin to form carboxy myoglobin, which presents a bright cherry red color similar to oxymyoglobin. The use of case-ready modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) has increased by the meat industry in various countries. Carbon dioxide (CO₂), nitrogen (N₂), and oxygen (O₂) are the gases most commonly used in MAP. The use of CO (the method of adding 0.4% CO to a commercial gas blend with 60% CO₂ and 39.6% N₂) as a packaging gas has many benefits including increased color stability, shelf-life extension due to microbial inhibition properties, enhanced flavor, reduced protein oxidation and lipid oxidation, improved tenderness and prevention of premature browning. Combinations of CO with other gases such as CO₂ to control microbial growth provide an excellent opportunity for meat processors to improve the shelf lives of retail-packed fresh meats. CO is selectively bacteriostatic for various microbial populations. CO extends the lag phase and slows the growth rate of Escherichia coli, Achromobacter, and P. fluorescence at concentrations of 25–30%, while P. aeruginosa is unaffected even at these high concentrations.

Maintaining an attractive color during retail display remains a challenge to the meat industry. The use of CO in fresh meat packaging gives promising results due to its positive effects on overall meat quality, enhancement of red color, reduced lipid oxidation, and microorganism growth inhibitions, which result in shelf-life prolongation during the wider distribution of case-ready products. Vacuum packaging (VP) is a common method used to distribute CO’s meat/fish and in supermarkets for their retail/display.