California Senator Requests Federal “Meat Glue” Investigation

California Senator Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) has sent a May 3, 2012, letter to
the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Food Safety and Inspection
Service, asking the agency to investigate the restaurant industry’s use of
transglutaminase or “meat glue” to allegedly bind together “disparate parts of
meat products to form a larger piece of meat.” Citing unnamed media reports,
Lieu claims that caterers and other facilities sometimes use transglutaminase
to combine meat scraps into whole steaks, which are then sold as more
expensive cuts like filet mignon. According to the letter, this practice not
only deceives customers who believe they have purchased a higher quality
product, but purportedly poses a health risk insofar as “reformed” steak may
contain contaminated meat that is not thoroughly cooked or served rare.

“I respectfully request the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service to
thoroughly investigate the industry’s use of meat glue, the possible dangers
posed by meat glue, and how consumers can be warned that they are eating
glued meat,” wrote Lieu, who also noted that meat glue could make it more
difficult for authorities to trace the sources of foodborne illness outbreaks.
“[A]s a matter of honesty and the consumer’s right to know[,] food suppliers,
restaurants, and banquet facilities should not be deceiving the public into
thinking they are eating a whole steak if in fact the steak was glued together
from various meat parts.” See MSNBC.com, April 27, 2012; Los Angeles Times,
May 2, 2012.