Hearing on Beef Packaging Fails Activists' Smell Test

WASHINGTON — The process of writing legislation has often been compared to sausage-making, but rarely is rotten meat actually present at a congressional hearing. Yet some is expected this afternoon at a House Agriculture Committee hearing "to review technologies in the meat industry."

The hearing is in the cross hairs of activists opposed to the spiking of packaged red meats with carbon monoxide gas, which keeps cuts crimson no matter how old the meat. Unable to wrangle a place on the witness list, some plan to make their olfactory point in the hallway.

Meat producers are enthusiastic about carbon monoxide, which in small quantities poses no risk when consumed. By keeping meat red it boosts sales of aging but still edible cuts that would otherwise be tossed or discounted because of poor appearance — a waste the industry says costs it $1 billion a year.

Read the full Washington Post story here.