By name, meat glue sounds frightening. Some chefs, however, say transglutaminase (TG) is actually not only safe, but a chef's friend. MSG producer Ajinomoto discovered a strain of soil bacteria, (Streptoverticillium mobaraense), that produces large quantities of easily purified meat glue. The Japanese company now sells tonnes of it to food producers around the globe.
On the French Culinary Institutes web blog Cooking Issues, TG is touted as “safe, natural, and easy to use” although it notes that the binding agent shouldn't be consumed in large quantities. It is appreciated by cooks because it can make meat cuts uniform so they cook evenly, look palatable and reduce waste. The enzyme product binds meat mixtures like salami and sausage so that casings aren't even necessary, and can combine different products together, like scallops and lamb, or fish and beef. Using gelatin as a binding agent, TG enables food producers to make meat noodles, strengthen doughs and thicken dairy products like yoghurt.
“TG is a great tool used by conscientious cooks to achieve fabulous and fantastic culinary results” the Cooking Issues website says. It also says the bonding agent is deactivated by most cooking activities and doesn't change the flavour of most food to most people.
Transglutaminase is an enzyme in powder form. Thrombosin (often called protease on ingredient lists) is made from beef and pork blood plasma and was banned in most countries in the EU.
In the food industry, leftover meat scraps or small pieces of meat or fish are mixed with TG and compressed into a plastic wrap and refrigerated. Once chilled and set, the wrap is removed and the now solid piece of meat and/or fish looks like it was only ever one piece.
Self-professed Green Prophet, Miriam Kresh says even chefs can't tell the combined product from natural, whole slabs of meat or fish. That could pose a problem for people who like their meat rare.
Believing That Combined Meat Is Whole Can Be Dangerous
While some would argue that the product is all from animal sources, the safety of the product can still be called into question, say some experts.
Once tissue has been exposed to the air and/or various surfaces, it has also been exposed to germs that like to grow on meat. When exposed tissues are gathered up and packed tightly together they create an anaerobic environment (without air), which is perfect for any newly attached, hazardous bacteria to basically wake up and start procreating.
The concern is that TG conglomerates could be sold as large slabs of meat to unknowing consumers. Meat lovers will often take what they believe to be whole cuts of meat and sear only the outer sides believing that the inner parts have never been exposed to the outside and hence to germs.
Normally in the natural environment, there are too few of certain dangerous microbes in any one spot for anyone absorbing them to become ill, but when they are compacted together and start to grow, and are maybe not heated enough to be destroyed, they can create serious illness in the consumer.
Meat Glue Is Not Even Safe for the Food Producer
As a powder, transglutaminase is easily inhalable when being applied to meat so users are warned to wear masks when handling it. Unfortunately, some chefs teach underlings to smell TG annointed meat to tell if it is effective. Also, some people have trouble breaking down proteins held together with transglutaminase, and there have been some concerns about a link between consumption and some diseases like Parkinson's and Altzheimer's.
Another concern is to do with allergies. Use of TG creates new proteins, and that in itself can be allergenic. Most TG products are not sold pure as it would be harder to use. Transglutaminase is usually combined with milk protein (caseinate). That is of concern to people with milk allergies, particulary milk protein allergies. For Celiac's, gluten-free products, say cereal, can contain a very small amount of gluten which, on it's own, is tolerable. Combined with TG, though, that protein could end up being much more allergenic. The March 2008 issue of the Journal of Cereal Sciences states, "mTG can enhance the immunogenicity of gluten and should not be used in food products intended for consumption by CD (Celiac) patients.
At the time of writing this article, there was no available data on the acute effects of large doses of mTG (TG made from microbes) on the mouth, tongue and esophagus as studies were done on tube-fed rats. There should also be a long-term study of the effects of chronic ingestion on an animal’s system as TG is now used by a good number of chef's, and hence unknowingly consumed.
In France transglutaminase is approved as a processing aid in different food categories. TG is approved in many other countries like the USA, Canada, Brazil, Japan, Korea, China and Thailand. In Canada at least, transglutaminase must appear on the label if it is used in any food product. In 2011, almost every country in the EU reversed a ban on the enzyme product. The FDA in the US categorizes TG as GRAS (generally regarded as safe). Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control estimates that contaminated food sickens as many as 81 million people in the county every year.
Join the Conversation