Think you are ordering a filet mignon?... You are paying for one, but are you getting one?

[SoCalDem]

Three strips of beef that have been bound together with "meat glue" and rolled into a log, in preparation for being sliced into steak-like pieces. The Boathouse at Sunday Park/Wikimedia Commons

http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2012/05/meat-glue-gross-it-sounds

Is "Meat Glue" As Gross As It Sounds?

—By Tom Philpott
| Mon May. 7, 2012 3:00 AM PDT



Broadcast news and social-media sites have been aflame with reports about something called "meat glue." "If you were disturbed to hear about 'pink slime' in your burger, you'll want to know about 'meat glue,' because a fat, rare-cooked filet mignon may not be what it seems," ABC News' Bay Area affiliate gasped last week. First reaction: Ooh, gross. Reaction upon a bit of reflection: Meat glue, an enzyme known as transglutaminase, is indeed a trick up the meat industry's sleeve, but a relatively minor one in the grand scheme. A couple of weeks ago, I named four common industry practices that are "grosser than pink slime." (Pink slime itself is pretty gross.) Here's a fifth: Every year, dairy and beef cows are fed around 2 billion pounds of chicken litter—chicken shit, dead chickens, and leftover feeds, which contains cow protein. Cows being fed chicken shit is deeply gross; cows eating cow protein is downright scary.

snip
The dodgy part lies on how the meat industry can put it to use. Meat purveyors can use it to bind together disparate scraps of meat that can be sliced into cuts that look shockingly like whole steaks—thus passing off cheap scraps as pricey cuts. The Ajinomoto site has an image, captioned "Sample Beef Application," that illustrates how four thin strands of beef can be bound together into a piece resembling a fat beef tenderloin, which can then be sliced into cuts that look whole lot like pristine filet mignons.

It's what's for dinner: "Sample Beef Application": Ajinomoto Food Ingredients LLCIt's what's for dinner: "Sample Beef Application." Ajinomoto Food Ingredients LLC

Beyond deception, there's a food safety angle here, too. I've written a lot about how are US meat is routinely tainted with pathogens, often strains that are resistant to antibiotics. These bacteria appear only on the surface of meat; so when you sear a real steak on both sides, you're also killing those bacteria, even if the meat inside is cooked rare. (Ground meat, of course, is different—since surface area gets ground into the final product, you have to cook it all the way through to ensure that you're not risking illness.) But in a "steak" made up of several pieces bound by meat glue, surface meat (and any pathogens like salmonella clinging to it) ends up inside the final cut—so searing on both sides won't do the trick. A rare real steak can be a pleasure to eat; rare meat-glued "steak" presents a potential health hazard.

snip

[MineralMan]

1. I never order a filet. If I want one,

I go to the meat market, have the butcher cut one from the whole filet, and then saute it gently in butter.

I can afford to do that a couple of times a year for my wife and I. We enjoy it very much.

[Baitball Blogger]

2. I hate it when they do this.

[randome]

3. Did you see Lewis Black's screed on food on the Daily Show a few nights ago?

He was brilliant, going on about so-called 'artisan' bagels and Kobe beef that isn't Kobe beef and fish that are deliberately sold as the wrong type of fish.

Need to get the economy back on track? Hire and train a few thousand more inspectors who will call companies out on this kind of stuff.

[Digit]

5. Here is the link

Thanks for bringing that to my attention. I love Lewis Black so I had to watch.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-may-1-2012/back-in-black---artisanal-foods

[Ikonoklast]

4. They are being technically correct in calling that a piece of beef a 'tenderloin'.

Those four strips of meat in that pic are pieces of what is called the "chain", which is a flap that is connected to the tenderloin and runs the length of the main muscle.

If you've ever purchased a whole beef tenderloin and cut it yourself at home, it looks like this:



The smaller piece is the "chain". There are many good recipes for this tender piece of meat.

In retail and restaurant applications, is usually separated from the main tender when being peeled, skinned, and sliced for either sale or cooking prep.

It appears that the meat processor is betting on their customers' lack of knowledge and hoping this can slip by unnoticed.

[Zalatix]

6. Is it possible to do this with "meat on the bone" like t-bone steaks?

[DCKit]

13. Great question. The answer is "No".

Too much work.

I'll be sticking to the "bone-in" cuts from here on out, as well. I like them better anyway.

[Oneka]

7. At my local grocery, I have seen something

labelled,"mock tenderloin".
I havent bought any of it, I would assume that this mock meat is same/similar to what is described above.
I travel from the twin city area in MN, to north central NE, to buy beef, by the half,
directly from an organic producer. Well worth the 10+ hour drive to get grass fed, organic beef, at around $4.00/pound.

[Uben]

8. I buy whole tenderloins at Sams Club

...and cut my own filets. I don't eat out much. so I use the savings to buy better beef. I have one every couple of weeks or so with some brocolli or the occasional baked tater. I had rather have a smaller piece of good beef than a larger piece of so-so beef, and the cost is really about the same when you buy the whole tenderloin. I get 12-14 filets out of a $65 tenderloin.

[flvegan]

9. I hope tofuglue isn't in my/our future.

*laughs at the premise and skips away from the flames*

[Zoeisright]

10. You know about the Salmonella in tempeh?

http://foodpoisoningbulletin.com/2012/buncombe-county-health-officials-emphasize-food-safety-measures/

[pasto76]

11. yeah, we buy the bacon wrapped tenderloins...but not after this

I just told my wife that Ive noticed that they fall apart into sections sometimes. There is a real butcher she goes to sometimes. Make that from now on.

[dionysus]

12. i bought some of those from Aldis, they were garbage...