Meat glue: The meat industry’s “dirty secret”
Millions of hard-earned dollars are spent every day on the meat industry worldwide. Many meat eaters consider it a priority to buy top cuts and “quality” meat, but the meat industry has a dirty secret they have been keeping from its consumers and this additive is called meat glue.
What is meat glue?
The main ingredient in meat glue is called Transglutaminase, a white crystalline powder. TG is an enzyme often derived from the blood of cows and pigs, it is the ingredient that makes blood coagulate or clot. This binds and bonds proteins together, acting as a glue for all protein rich foods such as meats, seafood, pasta, dairy and the vegan staple tofu. It is marketed under the brand name Activa, and is the latest additive introduced to the world by Ajinomoto, the same company that brought us MSG and Aspartame, the famous excitotoxins. It is actually not a new substance and its use has exploded in the culinary world since its approval in 2006, meaning that if you have consumed protein foods since then you have likely been exposed to it, perhaps in larger quantities than you would like or expect.
The meat glue conspiracy
Before this powerful enzyme was introduced into the meat world, consumers were able to choose prime cuts safely and to distinguish between quality meat and scraps. Since TG exploded into our meat supply, butchers are now able to “bond” numerous different scrap pieces, from a host of different animals together permanently to form what appears as “top quality cuts”. While this may be beneficial to the butcher’s pocketbooks, it is a huge violation of our rights as consumers to make educated choices on the quality of food we buy. Millions of consumers are purchasing these glued scraps and paying top dollar for them, because visually or gustatorily it is near impossible to judge the difference. This could be one of the greatest food conspiracies of all time.
The dangers of consuming Transglutaminase
There are several factors about TG’s use that may pose serious health threats. There is the obvious fact that this supposedly safe new additive is created by the same makers as two potent and known neurotoxins; MSG and Aspartame, which leads one to question their credibility in producing new chemicals meant for human consumption. In addition, a large percentage of the meat that is “glued together comes from different scraps from varying animals, making it potentially lethal should there be a bacterial outbreak in even one animal. This also makes it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to find the source of contamination in a case where a recall might be needed as so many different chunks of meat have been bonded together.
If that weren’t enough, many people enjoy their meats minimally cooked as in the case with blue/rare or medium, this is not generally a health threat as a “real” piece of meat often only contains the bacteria on the outside of the cut and these bacteria are effectively destroyed in searing the meat, however, when many end parts are glued together, the bacterial-laden ends are often stuck together inside the new cut where it cannot be destroyed, increasing dangerously the possibility of contacting a food borne illness or bacterial poisoning from “ common” meat temperatures.
A typical TG commercial steak can contain as many as ten different “bonded” parts, increasing our contact with this substance and the serious risks that accompany its consumption. Of course, it cannot be overlooked that transglutaminase itself has not been tested for the long term risks of consumption. Humans naturally produce some of our own natural TG (chemically different than that of animals) and so we do not need to consume any added forms in our diet as it can throw off our delicate balance. Any sudden increase or imbalance in our bodily TG levels can cause neurological symptoms, such as brain plaque formation as seen in Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s or MS victims. Added TG can potentially harden the arteries, which would increase risk of heart attack and stroke. Exposure to the TG used in meat glue can alert our immune systems, making them more sensitive to own naturally produced transglutaminase. This can provoke out bodies to attack both the additive and our own TG and can lead to a host of health effects related to improper TG processing in the body such as inability to properly clot blood after injury or surgery.
For every new scientific breakthrough, and every new substance created, the promise of greater corporate revenue and increased convenience, takes us further and further away from nature and all that it has generously provided us with to sustain life successfully. It is no longer simply about making the right choices. We are uninformed about what is in most of our food and abstaining from animal products is no longer a luxury or a choice but has become a critical must in order to thrive and survive.
