In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge
So it's Mardi Gras time and this is obviously a very big deal in the town I live in - Lafayette ,Louisiana. Being from NJ myself, I get a kick over how much this holiday dominates the local culture. This will be the first year that I get to attend an actual Mardi Gras ball - the Krewe of Xanadu. I am not sure if the Krewe gets its name from the particular Coleridge reference above, but evidently it was this Coleridge poem (Kabla Khan) that led to the term Xanadu being synonymous with opulence. And opulence is what I expect on Friday...
I picked up my tuxedo this past week. The town comes to a standstill. Businesses close. Kids are off school for a week. Parades, beads, king cakes, costumes, the ubiquitous purple (justice), green (faith), and gold (power). It's really quite amazing to live around it. At this point, I have been told that my joke of "What's Mardi Gras?" may actually insult more than entertain...a common theme with my humor it seems...
In truth, I started this post with the intent of regurgitating a random news post that I picked up the other day...and surprisingly enough, it was not in the tasteless red "breaking news" box at the top of CNN. Have you heard of GRAS? "Generally Recognized as Safe?" Have you heard that case ready meat can be treated with Carbon Monoxide so that the meat can retain that pleasant red color longer? I find this completely crazy. GRAS is the term applied to this practice (and others) by the FDA. I decided to poke around to see if my local supermarket was on the list...but there is no list...in fact, I have yet find out a method to discover who uses this GRAS technique. I did find the actual GRAS notifications issued by the FDA though. It's a pleasant read. I believe that this fact, just maybe, might be a good idea to place on packaging. I even read a quote from someone who was interviewed noting that there was no current study on how the color of meat affects a consumer decision. Wow. I am assuming I am not the only one who uses color as one of the primary factors...right?
Take this additional fact for what it is worth, because it comes from a natural food extract producer - but supposedly, carbon monoxide "also suppresses bad odors and the presence of slime, other telltale signs that meat is spoiled."
Call me conservative, but anything that can conceal the freshness of my food is not necessarily what I would call a generally safe thing.
Off to local butcher this evening.
2 comments:
I was going to blog about that GRAS. I am appalled by it. I did see a list. It included Safeway and Wal-mart among others. There will be no reliable way to tell if the meat is bad until the package is opened.
The article I read suggested that at the very least the package should be labelled. I hope someone moves on regulating this soon.
Carlee has always warned me abot Wal-mart meat but could never back it up. I would love to see that list. I am almost afraid to look at the other GRAS practices...because as riffle notes, sometimes, ignorance may indeed be bliss...unless it leads to mad cow that is.
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