Meat firms defend packaging process

Hormel Foods Corp. and Cargill Inc. told Washington lawmakers that using carbon monoxide to make aging meat look fresh cut waste and was safe, and that concerns from consumer groups were unwarranted.

Although the Food and Drug Administration says the treatment is safe, food-safety activists say it’s deceptive.

“We’re making sure the shelf life of that product can be realized for ourselves and our customers,” Scott Eilert, vice president for research and development for Wichita, Kan.-based Cargill Meat Solutions, told the House Agriculture Committee.