American Meat Institute defends practice of binding assorted pieces of meat into single cut using enzyme dubbed 'meat glue' by media, saying enzyme has been sold for two decades, is regularly used in beef, dairy, seafood, baked goods

Nevin Barich

LOS ANGELES , May 7, 2012 (Industry Intelligence) – The American Meat Institute (AMI) defended the practice of binding assorted pieces of meat into a single cut using an enzyme dubbed “meat glue” by the media, saying the enzyme has been sold for nearly two decades and that it’s regularly used in dairy, seafood and baked goods as well as in beef for texture, Bloomberg reported May 7.

The AMI said it’s unaware of any food safety issues, adding that packaged meat products made with the enzyme — called transglutaminase — must be labeled as formed or reformed.

Consumer groups argue that sticking together cuts from different animals to form a muscle meat increases the chances of E. coli or other contamination.

The primary source of this article is Bloomberg, New York, New York, on May 7, 2012.

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