EU ban on ‘glue’ that binds meat

THE meat industry will be banned from using an enzyme from blood to stick pieces of meat together so they look like they form a chunk.

While EU member states voted almost unanimously to allow the use of thrombin to glue meat, members of the European Parliament decided it was a con to trick consumers.

They decided that reconstituting bits of meat and sticking it with thrombin was not safe, as the many surfaces of the meat pieces could be infected by pathogenic bacteria.

One of those campaigning against thrombin was Labour MEP Nessa Childers.

“The risk of misleading the consumer is obvious – to trick them into thinking that many pieces of meat is a single product such as a ham or a steak. The only winner really is the industry,” she said.

The practice has raised concern in several countries, including Germany, though reconstituting meat is a common practice, especially in processed meats such as ham and chicken rolls.