This is one of those things that will make you think twice about where you buy your meat.  This is some nasty sh*t.  Meat Glue.  AKA transglutaminase.  Things that make you go Hmmm.

“WTF is it?” you ask.

This white powder allows butchers to piece together scraps of meat into a seamless full meat cut. England banned use of this coagulant last year. They found it misled consumers to think they are getting a prime cut for their money.  Oh, and here’s a good one: The original glue was made from cow and pig blood, something they didn’t think was wise in restaurant meats. Ya think?

Parts of parts of parts.

For example, have you ever taken a second thought about those tenderloin rolls wrapped in bacon that are held together perfectly without the need for twine or toothpicks? Meat Glue. Perfectly oval chicken nuggets?  Meat Glue.  The ribeye from Outback? Probably Meat Glue. It can make any kind of meat look like one whole piece. Magic! So what is it exactly?

Produced by a Japanese company, it belongs to the family of ‘clotting enzymes.’  Clotting?  I just threw up in my mouth. Thrombin is a coagulation protein which together with the fibrous protein can be used to develop a “meat glue” enzyme that can be used for sticking together different pieces of meat.

If the idea of fish slurry (think McFish) or chicken puree glued together with an enzyme isn’t appealing to you, use it as motivation to learn more about where your food comes from.

The moral of the story?

Seriously. Know where your food comes from. Try shopping from farmer’s markets more, so that you know who has grown your vegetables, or raised your meat if you eat it. Maybe reconsider eating cheap meat at all.  I mean a 4 year old McDonald’s hamburger looks exactly the same as it’s ‘fresh’ counterpart.  I can promise you, that HAS to cause problems for our bodies.

Signing off with an organic apple in hand…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ss_b-dRIOOg&w=560&h=349[/youtube]