Like meat? Watch this
Video Here
Now along with not eating seafood from Asia or other countries ... we have to watch for GLUED meat! Be sure to watch this; you will be shocked.
The next time that you are at the grocery store go to the pre-packaged meat coolers and look closely at the list of the countries on the label of any of the packaged meats (which is a mandatory FDA law) that shows where the meat came from. Buy only meat that came from USA or Canada.
Well, you can bet that if they are doing it in Australia, they're doing it here. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me to learn the technology was developed here. I have never seen or heard of such a thing!!!
Firstly - you can buy meat from the European Union - meat glue is banned here.
Secondly - many, many items are made from "reformed" meat. Ham, turkey and chicken "rolls", any joints available to cook from frozen, nuggets etc.
There is a big movement here about buying responsibly raised meat. Even McDonalds trumpets its farm to fork policies, using only beef reared in the British Isles, organic milk and free range eggs etc (although they import battery raised chicken for meat - grim).
Over here we call those scraps stewing beef cubes, even though they are rarely cube shaped.
That is grimmy, though. Wouldn't want to try that.
Makes me wonder about some of those commercial ship filet mignon to your house companies. They have to be cutting costs somewhere to offer those kinds of prices.
I've bought those packs of filets from the grocery before...you know, it's like a "brand" and wasn't cut at the store...I wonder about them now.
The most pure and perfect and yummiful food known to man: a filet. Ruined.
BY GREED!
(do you see my theme here?)
I heard that it was banned in the UK Sundae, this was more for those posters here in the US as it is NOT banned yet.
It reminded me of a dinner earlier this year at my parents. Mom bought this expensive tenderloin. As I was prepping it to cook, I knew something wasn't right. I'm sure it was something like this. As I cut into it, it had the weird lines as shown in this video.
@Wolf - good point, I hadn't thought of that.
I heard that it was banned in the UK Sundae, this was more for those posters here in the US as it is NOT banned yet.
It reminded me of a dinner earlier this year at my parents. Mom bought this expensive tenderloin. As I was prepping it to cook, I knew something wasn't right. I'm sure it was something like this. As I cut into it, it had the weird lines as shown in this video.
@Wolf - good point, I hadn't thought of that.
A tenderloin is made up of 3 different muscles, if I recall "Good Eats" correctly. There's facia (sp) between them.
There is a big movement here about buying responsibly raised meat. Even McDonalds trumpets its farm to fork policies, ...
McDonald's has forks?
A tenderloin is made up of 3 different muscles, if I recall "Good Eats" correctly. There's facia (sp) between them.
Start at about 5:25
[YOUTUBE]F7-_ka3DAuY[/YOUTUBE]
Firstly - you can buy meat from the European Union - meat glue is banned here.
Secondly - many, many items are made from "reformed" meat. Ham, turkey and chicken "rolls", any joints available to cook from frozen, nuggets etc.
The worst is when you buy reformed meat and it turns out to be recidivist meat that only claimed to be reformed. You can never really tell.
The worst is when you buy reformed meat and it turns out to be recidivist meat that only claimed to be reformed. You can never really tell.
Or if it's orthodox or Hasidic.
Or halal or haram
'Cept that's not proper American meat of course.
If it's killed properly under rabbinical supervision, but then glued together like that, is it still kosher?
If it tastes good, who cares if it's glued together.
The glue is probably made from horses, anyway.
If it tastes good, who cares if it's glued together.
Everybody who don't like being lied to? I would not buy glued together meat, if I knew.
Would you really be alright with paying the filet mignon price for scraps of meat glued together in the shape of filet mignon???
Now...If it comes in a bag that screams "Glued-Together Meat", maybe. But, prolly not.
:greenface
But white chocolate isn't really chocolate, there's no licorice in red licorice and Coke doesn't actually contain any coke.
"Doesn't actually contain" isn't the same as "secretly contains." Transglutinamase (aka the meat glue featured in the video) is involved in the autoimmune reaction to gluten, and this is why my kids have to eat organic, un-fucked-with meat. But in fairness to your point, they also can't eat white chocolate, red licorice, or coke either.
I eat hotdogs, sausages, chicken tenders and McDonald's fish filet (with extra anti-foaming agent!), so I can't really object to meat glue.
I have to say, I don't watch that TV show because it's just a running joke as far as actually providing worthwhile journalism, so I'll have to do a bit more research into this. As mentioned previously, things like chicken nuggets and rolls of ham etc use stuff like this, and if you didn't figure that out before this article, you haven't been putting as much thought into what you're eating as you have been putting in your mouth, but it's news to me about the steaks.
I'll be interested to see what turns up.
Stay tuned. ;)
When I was in first grade, the girls next to me would eat white paste. She ate her boogies, too.
Here's an
interesting article which refutes the TT claims one by one and well worth the read if you took the time to watch the original.
I'm still interested to find out about the producers of these types of steak and where the market is.
The main thing I find hard to swallow about the OP is that they don't name any particular producer of glued steaks and offer them a chance to refute or explain these claims. They've basically done a lab test with one butcher (and definitely far from the only butcher in Oz) that doesn't use the product. In fact, I don't recall ever seeing glued meat in a butcher shop, and I honestly believe I know enough about butchered meat to tell the difference after having watched and participated in enough farm yard butchering jobs to have a good idea about it all.
I don't believe the practice is as widespread as the OP would have us believe, but i do have a feeling that it might be a product used specifically for export beef.
Really, consumers need to educate themselves on what they're eating and what it should look, taste and feel like. The same thing happens with seafood. People don't know enough about what they're eating to realise they're eating nile perch dressed up as barramundi. Half the bloody chefs don't know the difference either.
Still, there's a bit more info for me to look at yet.
That was an interesting and well-written article. Even the comments were good.
Here's another
article from the US. It has an interesting convo about the American Revolution and it's links to beef consumption at the bottom too. lol
So, after just one hour of informing myself about this particular product, I am once again irritated with the irresponsible journalism of TT and the issues it causes between people who choose to be informed, and those who choose to swallow whatever bullshit appears on TV (or the internet).
It's not that the product is that great or something I'd choose to eat, but as has been mentioned, it's used to lots of other things besides meat bits being stuck together as a deception, and of course, that might be a problem if you don't know to ask about it or don't know what your meat should look like on the plate, but if you ask and they tell you, then where's the issue.
When was the last time you ate a chicken nugget or some pressed ham or even spam! I guess you get what you pay for (in general) and if you get ripped off and you know it, then make a fuss.
My guess is that the market is the restaurants.
I'm sure you're right classic, but I can't think of a restaurant I'd go to that would sell crap like that. I really don't think I've ever had a rib fillet that wasn't a rib fillet.
Great counterpoint.
Transglutaminase (TG) –aka meat glue, the stuff that allows you to bond proteins together –has been taking a pounding in the blogosphere recently and, as a proponent of the enzyme, so have I.
The other guy is blatantly against it.
I really don't think I've ever had a rib fillet that wasn't a rib fillet.
How would you know. I think that is the point.
I think I'd know because i know what one is supposed to look like. What the formation of the meat is. Where the fatty bits should be and the cartilage etc.
I was going to watch that video later, until Ali pointed out it is from Today Tonight.
What they do to facts if far, far worse that what they claim is done to meat!
Thanks for the research Ali, you've saved me the time and annoyance.
No worries Zen. I'm still looking for someone who actually uses this stuff commercially for the purposes the TT dinks suggested. I'll let you know when I find what I'm looking for.
I just hate it when something from TT or ACA goes viral. The only good thing to come out of those shows combined was the soup diet, and even that has it's flaws!
I've eaten it, and it was delicious. It glued my anus shut, but boy did it taste good.
That's actually the reason you can't breathe it in, Spexx--it's an enzyme that breaks down protein rather indiscriminately, so if it gets in your lungs it will potentially dissolve the outer layer of your alveolar sacs. It gets used up passing through your GI tract, but you definitely wouldn't want to be shoving this stuff up in the wrong direction. :eek:
All I can think about is the episode of Dr. Katz where the patient tells a story about his dad and an all you can eat restaurant. The dad tells him not to fill up on bread because "That's how they get you." The son asks him if he thinks the restaurant takes their unfinished steaks back to the kitchen and welds them back together.
I've talked about that episode before, and my family will say 'that's how they get you' at dinner.
Oh wait, hold my meat and watch this!
http://insidescoopsf.sfgate.com/blog/2011/05/13/is-there-meat-glue-in-your-food/
TG... is used predominantly in fast food preparations like chicken nuggets and the sushi crab substitute called surimi... it was banned in Britain for about a year and then along with the U.S, Australia and Canada, Britain approved the product for use again in 2011.
http://www.good.is/post/what-meat-glue-means-for-the-food-movement/
TG is added to low-quality extruded meat gels, imitation crab, or other "formed meats." It's also become something of a darling among chefs exploring the use of novel technologies in the kitchen.
The skeptics guide to the story: the poor (chicken nugget eaters), the rich (molecular gastronomy fans), and the poseurs (surimi eaters) are getting hosed. For the rest of us:
http://celiacdisease.about.com/b/2011/04/19/meat-glue-a-threat-or-not.htm
If transglutaminase meat glue is used in a product, it must be identified on the ingredients label as "TG enzyme," "enzyme" or "TGP enzyme." In addition, meats that contain transglutaminase will be labeled as "formed" or "reformed," as in "formed beef tenderloin," or "reformed beef tenderloin pieces."
...if that's on the label, avoid. Or just don't worry about it:
the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has classified transglutaminase-containing meat glue products as "Generally Recognized as Safe," or GRAS.
After all, the French Culinary Institute thinks:
http://www.cookingissues.com/2011/05/20/the-trials-of-transglutaminase%E2%80%94the-misunderstood-magic-of-meat-glue/
This video has gone somewhat viral over the last month. I encourage you to watch it. It is horse hockey... At the risk of preaching to the converted (sorry, loyal readers) I’m setting the record straight. TG is a great tool used by conscientious cooks to achieve fabulous and fantastic culinary results.
the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has classified transglutaminase-containing meat glue products as "Generally Recognized as Safe," or GRAS.
I want it irradiated first, just to be sure.;)
...if that's on the label, avoid. Or just don't worry about it:
the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has classified transglutaminase-containing meat glue products as "Generally Recognized as Safe," or GRAS.
Were you switching topics, or suggesting that celiacs shouldn't worry about transglutimanase after all? Wheat is also classfied as GRAS. (Or maybe you were never talking about celiacs at all, I just got thrown by your celiac web link...)
Not talking about celiacs, it was just where I got some info.
Wheat is definitely a grass.
Sorry all. I didn't know what TT was until Ali and Zen called them out.
Thanks for the info.
The name of the show sounds like a SNL skit.
Don't worry about it classic. It's just a sensationalist daily half hour current affairs show which any sensible person watches with a very large bowl of salt on the arm of the chair. They're notorious for telling only one side of the story. They've been sued and had to make apologies on air, all because they encourage one sided reporting from their staff.
Thanks Ali, I still don't like what I've read about this meat glue. Shrug.
McDonald's has forks?
Only on the other side of the pond...they has manners over there.
Hey k-sene, nice to see you!
Thanks all for reinforcing my belief that meat should be meat and nothing but meat. I won't even eat it if the animal was fed antibiotics or growth hormones BEFORE it or it's byproducts became a consumable.
I read somewhere recently about why the McRib makes limited appearances at McDonald every once in a while.
Think it's some elaborate marketing thing? Limited supply for a special item? Nope. It's simple economics. When pork prices go down every few years, McDonalds buys a bunch of pork, and grinds them into McRib sandwiches. When pork prices go back up, they stop selling the McRib. That's it.
I've never had a McRib, but if they're made with meat glue I'd like to try one.
I like crap food. Really, I do.
But I really can't imagine eating a McRib. I just can't.
I deny that "extrusion" is valid a cooking technique.
I got my dad a mincer a couple of years ago and he makes great sausages. They're way different than the usual ones cause they're not filled with gluten and stuff and muck. Just ground meat (usually beef), some fat and some spices. They're usually pretty good.
I've never had a McRib, but if they're made with meat glue I'd like to try one.
:greenface
I got my dad a mincer a couple of years ago and he makes great sausages. They're way different than the usual ones cause they're not filled with gluten and stuff and muck. Just ground meat (usually beef), some fat and some spices. They're usually pretty good.
Well, I'd eat those. Commercial sausages are a mix of the bits they can't sell any other way with filler and preservative. Yech.
Actually I had a strange sausage-craving (stop thinking that!) so i bought a few packs. The fad lasted a few weeks until the sulphurous tang of the preservative got to me.
If anyone wants three frozen pork snags with some herby stuff, let me know.
I'll pass. I'm not much of a sausage girl myself. (stop thinking that)
Hey k-sene, nice to see you!
Good to see you, too :)
Husband works for a natural beef company...not grass fed organic beef, but non-antibiotic fed natural beef. We get it pretty cheap with employee discounts and I swear, even when he stops working there, I will never go back to eating the crap they sell in the grocery store. the taste is just so much more...like meat. Good stuff.
Don't eat Taco bell. their taco "filling" is only 37% meat.
It's 37% meat and 63% secret-y goodness.
Unless they've changed it pretty radically from the summer I worked there, I'm not so sure I'd believe this one. The taco meat started as straight-up ground beast, and got maybe five percent by weight of a reddish-brown powdery seasoning mix, that smelled like, well, tacos. Cumin, garlic powder, salt, small measure of red pepper, that sort of thing. Maybe powdered oregano. No addition of liquids.
I like crap food. Really, I do.
But I really can't imagine eating a McRib. I just can't.
Actually I quite enjoyed them. But I liked the sauce mostly. Haven't had one this decade.
I got my dad a mincer a couple of years ago and he makes great sausages. They're way different than the usual ones cause they're not filled with gluten and stuff and muck. Just ground meat (usually beef), some fat and some spices. They're usually pretty good.
Even the best sausages in this country contain something other than meat, to hold them together. They'll be 85% meat, say. If you only mince the best part of the pig, surely it could be used in a better way? Sorry just realised you were talking beef sausages. Not in my realm of experience!
Well, I'd eat those. Commercial sausages are a mix of the bits they can't sell any other way with filler and preservative.
I do think there is a middle ground between 100% pork (with herbs) and those stuffed with old crud and then coloured to look healthy.
I think there is a place for rusk, bread or rice in sausages.
As long as the meat/ filler equation isn't weighted towards the filler.
I have to admit, I've had yummy sausages in greasy spoon cafes.
I only eat them there, or if I'm on holiday.
So I obviously have a taste for cheap meat ;)