NORTH EAST MEP CASTS KEY VOTE AGAINST 'MEAT GLUE'
May 20, 2010 12:00 AM
A North East MEP has cast the key vote to reject a bid by the food industry to use 'meat glue' to enable meat from different sources to be stuck together in products.
Liberal Democrat MEP Fiona Hall says that she was not satisfied that consumers would be told the whole truth about what they were being invited to buy.
The proposal to authorise the use of an enzyme preparation based on thrombin was this week rejected by MEPs in the European Parliament by just one vote.
Thrombin is a natural material made from the blood of cattle or pigs that has been used for centuries.
However, the food industry wants to use the enzyme preparation made from it to bind together separate meat pieces to produce products with a uniform shape and thickness. The glue could also be used to bind together small pieces of beef into a new size that might appear like fillet steak.
Fiona said:
"I accept the assurances from EU health commissioner John Dalli that thrombin is a safe product and that its use would be clearly labelled on pre-packaged food.
"But a lot of food is not sold pre-packaged. For instance, I think people eating out in a restaurant might be a bit disconcerted if they discovered that their piece of steak was actually made of cuts glued together.
"If meat from different sources is being glued together then consumers need to be told this in all circumstances in the clearest possible terms."
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