California Senator Launches Investigation into Meat Glue

Susanne Posel
Occupy Corporatism
May 3, 2012

 

 

 

 

Meat glue is an adhesive derived from “natural” products. When a restaurant does not want to waste food, they use this glue to adhere two pieces of meat together. They are then able to charge premium prices for otherwise lesser cuts.

According to the Food Policy of the National Restaurant Association, it is illegal to “misrepresent” a cut of meat with meat glue.

This product is known as transgluaminase , or Activa, and is manufactured by Ajinomoto. This corporation also manufactures pervasive neurotoxins aspartame and MSG (monosodium glutamate.) While aspartame and MSG are known to be dangerous for human consumption, transgluaminase has not been studied enough to be conclusively negatively affective. However, the enzyme that binds is covalent; formed by cross-linked, insoluble and irreversible protein polymers.

The binding enzyme in transgluaminase is made by cultivating bacteria using blood plasma from cows and pigs, but also can be created from vegetable or plant extracts.

California Senator Ted W. Lieu wants to launch an investigation in meat glue. Lieu wants labeling for meats that have been bound together.
In a letter to the USDA, Lieu said that:

• Bound meat may be filled with contagions that endanger the public’s health
• The glue or transgluaminase may cause adverse allergic reactions because it is created from many different animal parts
Because E.coli is an obvious threat, Lieu has come out to have authorities create a “plan of attack”.

The USDA has released a statement saying that once they find evidence from tested meat that there is a threat of bacteria, they will try to trace down the source of the meat.

However, because of bureaucracy, tracing could become a lengthy process. The USDA is firm that they will wait until there is a confirmed case of E.coli and not move to any preemptive measures to ensure public safety.

Lieu’s policy would expedite investigations so that the risk of bacterial infections is greatly reduced.

Curtis Allen from the FDA says that transglutaminase is “generally recognized as safe.”

No regulatory body, including the FDA or USDA, is currently forcing manufacturers to deluge what process they are creating transgluaminase or its bonding enzymes.

Hopefully this investigation championed by Senator Lieu will not be stalemated by the regulatory agencies who are failing to do their job and do not want to be caught.

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