Meat Glue

Have you heard about meat glue? I did and I was curious. So I looked this up. Here is what I found.

Meat glue is made up of the coagulant of the blood of pigs and cows. The scientific name for this compound is “transglutaminase.” Someone figured out that you could use this stuff to stick pieces of meat together, and you can sell that meat as something else. As an example, I saw a video showing a chef using meat glue on stew meat and then serving it up as Filet Mignon. And the usage is prevalent in restaurants.

Meat glued meat - Photo from KBAK/KBFX News in Bakersfield, CA

The down side to meat glue has to do with the surfaces of the meat used for sticking together. If a meat, like stew meat is used, there are a number of surfaces to which germs can cling, and if the meat is not cooked to well-done, can make a person sick. The video showed the chef using the meat glue with stew meat. He mixed it all together, then rolled it up in a sheet of wax paper, let it sit overnight, and then sliced it to the size of a piece of filet. The results were that there was no difference in flavor and that it looked the same. But what are the other implications of something like this being used?

How do you know if meat glue is used in the restaurant you are visiting? The news story said to ask the server or the chef. Somehow, I do not think that a restaurant will actually divulge this to you as they would like to command a premium price on the stew meat, aka Filet Mignon.

Here is the link to a news story out of Pittsburgh, PA.   Meat Glue

Let’s see what you have to say on this topic.  Please feel free to comment too!