If you’ve heard that ground beef packaging is pumped full of gases like nitrogen — well that’s true but it’s also nothing to worry about. This process is sometimes called “modified atmosphere packaging” and it’s what keeps ground beef red. Oxygen causes meat to change color turning brown or gray within a few days of exposure. Nitrogen-filled packaging removes the chemical and keeps the meat red.
| Channel | Publish Date | Thumbnail & View Count | Actions |
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 Mashed | 2019-10-01 20:00:01 |  222,889 Views |
This Is How You Know If Ground Beef Is Spoiled
It’s not just nitrogen that’s added to ground beef packaging: carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide are usually in the mix too. This combination of gases can keep beef looking appetizingly red for about two weeks (and possibly longer). This trick doesn’t just work for ground beef—it’s also used on other beef products (like steaks and unground cuts) and other red meats like lamb. The FDA and USDA approve this use of gases in meat packaging though they may not appear on the ingredients list since they’re not necessarily part of the meat itself.
It’s important to realize that nitrogen in meat processing is in the packaging not the meat itself. And anyway you’re exposed to nitrogen all the time — it makes up 78% of the Earth’s atmosphere and the air you breathe. You could also argue that it’s not really the nitrogen that’s keeping your ground beef looking red longer — it’s the lack of oxygen. Nitrogen is quite common in food packaging. It’s in wine bottles and packaged coffee among other things to keep produce fresh and protect it from oxidative damage.
For this reason there is no shortage of proponents for these types of applications of nitrogen and carbon dioxide. The FDA claims that by eliminating oxygen from meat packaging these gases can extend the shelf life of meat and prevent the growth of unwanted organisms such as mold. It is worth noting however that there are concerns about the safety of using liquid nitrogen in food but this is not the same thing. Liquid nitrogen is very uncommon in food and is generally used for novelty purposes to cool food to -320 degrees Fahrenheit. You would not find it in supermarket or butcher meat because it would actually damage the product.
