Sue Kedgley lodges Commerce Commission complaint over 'meat glue'

The Commerce Commission needs to investigate scraps of meat being glued together with ‘meat glue’ and then being sold as prime cuts of meat, Green Party consumer affairs spokesperson Sue Kedgley said today.

According to media reports it is becoming common in New Zealand for butchers to glue bits of beef together then sell the result as a single piece of steak. Meat glue is an enzyme called transglutaminase.

“The practice of gluing together cuts of meat is deceptive and has potential food safety concerns,” said Ms Kedgley.

“Most consumers would not want to eat scraps of meat that have been glued together with meat glue, but in the absence of any requirement for labelling, they may be eating it inadvertently.

“I have lodged a complaint with the Commerce Commission today, claiming that the practice breaches the Fair Trading Act as it is misleading and deceptive.

“At the very least consumers should be advised on a label or by other means that the meat they are about to eat is composed of scraps of meat held together by meat glue.”

Ms Kedgley said the use of the glue raised food safety issues, as the amount of bacteria on a steak that had been glued together with meat glue could be hundreds of times higher than on ordinary meat.

“This is because the surface area that may be infected by pathogenic bacteria, such as salmonella, increases, and because the scraps that are glued together are harder to cook thoroughly.”

“I am told that meat glue is also used in meat balls, fish balls, ham and other products.”

Note: Meat glue made from thrombin was banned by the European Parliament last May, largely on the grounds that its use would be misleading and deceptive to consumers.

Link to Ms Kedgley’s complaint:

http://www.greens.org.nz/misc-documents/commerce-commission-meat-glue