'Meat Glue' - dishonesty in the restaurant trade

I was angered (and not a little disgusted) to read about a trick that's apparently not uncommon in the restaurant and catering industry.  KABC-TV in Los Angeles reports:

If you were disturbed to hear about "pink slime" in your burger, you'll want to know about "meat glue", because a fat, rare-cooked filet mignon may not be what it seems.

Meat glue is a powder officially known as transglutaminase. Originally, the natural enzyme was harvested from animal blood. Now it's primarily produced through the fermentation of bacteria. Added to meat, it forms a nearly invisible and permanent bond to any other meat you stick it to.

Chef Staffan Terje of Perbacco Restaurant in San Francisco takes food seriously. He doesn't use meat glue in his restaurant, but like many chefs, he knows how it works and he agreed to show KGO-TV, KABC-TV's sister station in San Francisco.

Terje took powder and dusted it liberally over the meat pieces. The coated stew meat then went into a circular tin to give it a nice, round filet mignon shape. He was also able to make a New York strip out of thin cuts of round steak. Adding water makes a soupy glaze, and an easier way to coat the meat.

The final steps were to seal the meat in a vacuum bag, adding some pressure to the bond, and then it was off to the fridge to set overnight.

Twenty-four hours later, the humble $4-a-pound stew meat now looks like a $25-a-pound prime filet.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration lists transglutaminase as "generally recognized as safe." It's OK to eat cooked meat that's been glued.

But here's the problem: the outside of a piece of meat comes in contact with a lot of bacteria making its way from slaughterhouse to table. Usually cooking a steak on the outside will kill all that off. The center of a single cut of steak is sterile, that's why you can eat it rare. But glued pieces of meat could contain bacteria like E. coli on the inside.

"Say somebody wants that filet steak rare, the center temperature is not going to reach the temperature that will actually kill the bacteria," Terje said. "And that's also a really, really happy environment for things that can kill you."

There's more at the link. I'd never heard of this stuff before, but it's apparently well-known.  There are many video reports about it on YouTube, if you're interested.

What I want to know is, why isn't it illegal for restaurants to sell you something labeled as a prime meat product such as filet mignon (and priced accordingly) when, in fact, it's nothing but recycled scraps?  I'd never willingly pay for such meat if I knew what it was.  Why should I have to worry about being conned when I eat out?  Who allowed this fraud to proceed in the first place?

So much for 'truth in advertising' . . .





Peter