With its appetizing hue, sushi tuna (ahi) is hard to resist. The fish must be really fresh to have such a bright shade of red. Right?
Not exactly. It is treated with carbon monoxide - the gas that streams from the tailpipe of your car and is deadly when inhaled. When “applied” to tuna, it reacts with the heme proteins in the fish, imparting the cherry color.
Avoid sushi tuna. While the coloring process may be considered “safe” by industry standards, there’s no long-term evidence that it is. And if carbon monoxide is deadly when you breathe it in, that certainly is enough to raise an eyebrow… if not a red flag.
[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
I’m no scientist obviously, but some things remain inert in a particular form. Inhaling CM may be deadly to inhale, but completely harmless to ingest. [/quote]
I’m a Food Scientist and I believe you are probably right. To me it’s more an issue of trying to pass off tuna as being very fresh.
The supermarket does this to your salmon too, in fact most supermarkets gas most meat to make it look redder and better than gray fish and beef.
Which is the problem with supermarket meat.