If you're one who enjoys a
steak dinner now and again, let me ask this question: do you prefer it with a
nice sauce, a side of garlicky spinach — or maybe some transglutaminase?
Trans-what-did-he-say?
Transglutaminase is an enzyme
made by the fermentation of bacteria and added to meat pieces to make them
stick together. Yes, "meat glue." It's what's for dinner.
This is yet another dandy product from industrialized food
purveyors that keep inventing new ways to mess with our dinner for their own
fun and profit. Right about now, you're probably asking yourself: "Why do
they need to glue meat together?"
Glad you asked. It's so the
industry can take cheap chunks of beef and form them into what appears to be a
pricey steak.
For example, remember that
filet mignon you ordered at the Slaphappy Steakhouse chain recently?
By
liberally dusting meat pieces with transglutaminase powder, squishing them into
filet mignon-shaped molds, adding a bit of pressure to bond the pieces, and
chilling them — voila, four-bucks-a-pound stew meat looks like a $25-a-pound
filet mignon!
While meat glue is widely
used, corporations peddling molded meat aren't eager to let us consumers in on
their little secret.
Well, sniffs the meat industry's
lobbying group, they have to list transglutaminase on the ingredient label and
stamp the package as "formed" or "reformed" meat. How
honest!
Except that most of these
glued steaks are peddled as filet mignon through high-volume restaurants,
hotels, cafeterias, and banquet halls — where unwitting customers never see the
package or ingredient label.
This is why we should support
truth-in-menu laws. Make them say "reformed and glued" filet mignon
right on the menu. That simple step lets us decide if we really want to eat
that cut of meat. Consumers should have the right to know — and choose.
Jim Hightower is a radio commentator, writer, and
public speaker. He's also editor of the populist newsletter,The Hightower Lowdown.
Distributed via OtherWords (OtherWords.org)
Distributed via OtherWords (OtherWords.org)