Posted on 05/10/2012 6:22:54 PM PDT by thecodont
The American Meat Institute is striking back at reports that “meat glue,” a binding agent often used to patch together pieces of beef and other protein, is unsafe and unnatural.
In an occasionally touchy conference call Thursday, the trade group said that the USDA considers such substances to be safe and requires its presence to be noted on retail labels. The product, however, isn’t always disclosed when it’s served at restaurants and other food service outlets, experts said.
But using the binding substance to weave together high-quality cuts such as filet mignon with lower-priced meat such as chuck steak is “patently illegal,” said Mark D. Dopp, the institute’s general counsel.
Such "Frankenstein" meat would be easily discernible to diners and not condoned by the industry, he said.
Not long after the “pink slime” outcry and the reemergence of mad cow disease, concerns about meat glue have the industry back on defense.
California state Sen. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) recently called on the USDA to investigate such products, including options made by Fibrimex and Ajinomoto North America.
Ajinomoto uses transglutaminate, a “ubiquitous enzyme found in nature, basically every animal, in our tissues, in plants, trees and vegetables,” the company's Senior Vice President Brendan Naulty said on the conference call. Besides its meat applications, it is also used in products such as bread, yogurt and imitation crab.
Fibrimex uses fibrinogen and thrombin proteins, which company representative Christiaan Penning said was “designed by nature … but used in a more intelligent way.”
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
I did, in high school. I thought those days were over. Maybe not.
I don’t like trying to chew on the pieces of artery that I find in it. Kind of chewy and tough. I find more of that type of stuff in the 93% lean. Weird.
Neat. What state?
I was driving through western Oklahoma and saw a lot of Black Angus. Years ago they raised mostly white faced Hereford.
Believe my father said Angus were hardier and had fewer health problems. I had one of the best sirloin steaks I’ve ever had in Woodward, Oklahoma.
For me, a complete and efficient use of the animal would include moving some of it to pet food. I don’t want to consume lungs, eyes, brains, hearts etc, liver and kidneys, maybe.
I don’t know what goes into pink slime or meat glue but I know I can enjoy a piece of meat without them. That’s the way I want it. I’ll pay for it that way.
Do not substitute elmer’s glue if yur out of transglutaminase enzymes at home.
Michigan
I should clarify that he probably meant new to him. I remember him saying that he had been reading up on them for a couple of years and decided to take a chance.
I don’t know what goes into pink slime or meat glue but I know I can enjoy a piece of meat without them. That’s the way I want it. I’ll pay for it that way.
Pick up a cookbook from 50+ years ago and you'll find (under the "Meats" section) information on how to deal with "variety meats" (also known as "offal" -- the lungs, tripe, kidneys, etc.). I'm thinking specifically of Rombauer's The Joy of Cooking in its 1975 and 1943 editions.
Eating seemed to be done more in moderation then. Thumb through these cookbooks and find recipes for croquettes, gelatin salads, light sandwiches, etc. Today food seems to be presented in extreme religious terms, either monastic or decadent, nothing in between.
But those modest meals of the past DID deal with the less mentionable parts of the beast and thought nothing of it. How is scrapple made? Aren't sausage casings made from intestines? Isn't gelatin made from boiled bones?
I can still remember when the grocery store would sell soup bones cheap, and unusable bones and other meat refuse were made available for pets. Now people are trying to get their pets on vegetarian diets!
So now, ironically, along with "whole foods" and organic produce, we also have genetically modified plants and engineered foodstuffs that are extruded and sprayed with flavor and baked to a crisp texture. Yummy.
I think the nation's mental attitude towards food is swinging between wild extremes. People are either dieting or are stuffing their faces until they become morbidly obese. The local bus line has installed extra-wide seats on its coaches to accommodate ample bottoms.
Sounds familiar. I don’t know how many he had but they were beautiful looking.
I agree with you on all counts. I’d rather pay the higher price for the higher quality.
My mother’s father raised them, along with some cotton and wheat. I’m old enough to remember that `polled’ (no horns) Herefords were a big thing. I used to watch the hands de-horn and castrate the cattle. Man, that was a mess.
One day I took a shortcut through a field owned by a big Hereford bull and he made it clear I was trespassing. It turned quickly into a “Run Forrest Run!” deal & I cleared the barb fence without about a foot to spare.
But I believe the Herefords had problems with pink-eye and their eyes generally, and sunburn. Someone else probably could explain better why they switched to Angus.
I can remember driving along those red dirt roads, just a kid, and seeing a half-dozen or more coyotes hung up on wire. I suppose that was to warn the others off. Today they’d probably gig ranchers for doing that.
And we wore onions on our belts ... I’m starting to sound like Old Man Simpson, so off to bed.
He probably ended up doing well. In what state was that?
” I know I can enjoy a piece of meat without them. That’s the way I want it. I’ll pay for it that way.”
That’s all good. As long as products are honestly labelled, you can pay more for the more premium cuts and etc.
But I don’t think the meat companies are “bad” for using all of the cow.
Michigan
What was the onion for?
I have been to countries with an unregulated food supply. You will get sick. When we fly people to some of these places, the company I work for spends a lot of money to either bring food with them or find a supplier who will guarantee that the food is safe. Even then, the latter is a big risk and there was a coworker who spent time a hospital.
Simply put, if there is no consequences, no one will do it. We spend hundreds of thousands of dollars testing our products. The company wouldn't spend a dime if we didn't have to.
The kosher meat industry has such high standards and polices itself so well the USDA doesn’t even bother them.
The historical origin of Soylent wafers?
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