ATLANTA -- Don’t judge a steak by its color! A controversial packaging process allows meat that expired weeks ago to stay rose red and fresh! Consumer investigator Jim Strickland has the details and the proof.

Jim tested two packages of ground beef that each expired a month ago. One looked like it – it was brown, slimy and stunk to high heaven. You didn’t have to read the expiration date to know it was spoiled.

The other one still looked fresh – even though it was a month out of date. That’s because it contained more than meat – it contained carbon monoxide.

Brothers David and Darrell Shepard have chicken on the menu, but would they consider the steak or ground beef Jim showed them? Yes and no.

“One’s old, you can tell by the browness of the meat – this one’s bright, fresh and red,” says David.

Why is the steak we showed them so read if it expired in the middle of June. The packing plant sealed it in an oxygen-free container.

UGA food safety expert, Michael Doyle, says that cuts spoilage, but there’s a problem.

“When you remove all the oxygen, the meat’s gonna turn brown, unless you fix the color, and to do that, you add carbon monoxide,” Doyle says.

The brothers were a little surprised. “Carbon monoxide? Carbon monoxide – that’s kinda scary there,” Darrell said.

The traditional wrapping method at the grocery meat department traps air in the package. Over time, the spoilage process consumes the oxygen that turns the meat brown and serves as an important warning sign for the consumer. Critics say carbon monoxide thwarts the process.

“Meat that’s been processed with CO is deceitful. It gives you the illusion that it’s fresher than it is,” says Publix Media Manager Brenda Reid.

Publix goes so far as to put a sign right in the meat case saying other stores may carry meat processed with carbon monoxide to make it seem fresh even if it isn’t. Publix never does.

Kroger, Wal-Mart and Ingles join Publix against carbon monoxide meat – but Super Target and ALDI do sell it.

Publix ground beef is in the case for no more than 2 days. At one Super Target store Jim visited, he found ground beef that didn’t expire for 2 weeks!

A bad thing?

UGA’s food safety director used to think so – not anymore.

“This extends the shelf life dramatically,” he says.

Jim Strickland commissioned an experiment to see. UGA scientists purposely tainted several meat samples with toxic E-Coli bacteria. Each tiny drop of the liquid contained enough E-Coli to make 10 people sick.

The beef went into a refrigerator on the fritz – set 10 degrees too high. Later that week, the meat packed in gas didn’t’ look much different. As for the traditional packages?

“I don’t even know ho you call that color – kind of grey, pale yellow – it’s definitely old meat,” says Food Safety Scientist, Dr. Li Ma.

After 4 days, E-Coli in the conventional packages grew to an average 54,000 cells per gram. The gas-packed meat – less than 3,000.

“The carbon monoxide beef would be safer, it would also look better and taste better. This is a good process,” Doyle says.

Even so, Doyle’s not shocked Publix and so many other stores won’t touch it.

“They sell what the consumer wants and if the consumer feels that something is deceptive, then companies will go along with what the consumer wants,” he says.

Consumers like the Shepard’s had best check the expiration date.

“The first thing I see is the color, but the expiration date of the meat is what I base my purchasing of the meat upon,” says David.

The Consumer Federation of America says lots of people don’t bother or aren’t able to read the meat label. They rely on the red to decide it it’s fresh. The CFA and others are petitioning the FDA to ban carbon monoxide packaging.

There’s no requirement to disclose whether meat is packed with CO, but there are a couple hints. Click Here to learn more.