You may have seen videos doing the rounds on social media recently, with shoppers pulling apart supermarket steaks and questioning whether they’ve been stuck together with “meat glue”. Some compare them with cuts from their local butcher, and it’s fair to say they’ve put a few people off their dinner.

But while those videos raise important questions about the current food system, they don’t establish what’s in the meat or tell us how common the practice is.

What we do know is that meat glue is real, and is approved for use in Australia. Which got us talking about something that matters a lot to us at Joy Wholefoods: knowing where our meat comes from and choosing people we trust.

So, what exactly is meat glue?

“Meat glue” is the nickname for transglutaminase, an enzyme that bonds proteins together. In food production, it can join smaller pieces of meat into a larger piece that resembles a single cut.

It can also be used in other foods, including fish and dairy products. So, despite the nickname, it isn’t exclusively a meat thing. Or something you’ll find next to the superglue at Bunnings.

Why is it used?

Binding smaller pieces together lets producers turn trimmings into uniform portions that resemble whole cuts. It is also used to improve the aesthetic appearance of the meat. 

If a product has been assembled from several pieces, we believe shoppers deserve to know that before buying it. Especially if they’re paying a price that suggests otherwise.


What are the rules in Australia?

In Australia, transglutaminase from approved sources is permitted as a processing aid. Processing aids generally aren’t required to appear in the ingredient list, although requirements such as allergen declarations can still apply.

Permission to use it shouldn’t mean permission to leave shoppers with the wrong impression. If you ask us - when you pay for a ribeye, that’s exactly what you should get when you open the packet, not a bunch of meat offcuts glued together to look like one.

How common is it?

We don’t know how widely it’s used in Australian supermarket meat, and we don’t have evidence that it’s common.

A handful of viral videos can’t answer that question. 

So this isn’t about claiming every supermarket steak has been assembled from offcuts. It’s about understanding that this processing technique exists, that it is permitted here in Australia, and that shoppers deserve transparent information about what they’re buying.

This is just another example of how little we really know about the food we find on supermarket shelves, and how important it is to ask questions and shop more intentionally.

What about the health concerns?

There are a couple of things worth unpacking here.

Food poisoning from undercooked, joined meat

When separate pieces are bound together, surfaces that were exposed can end up inside the finished piece. Any bacteria on those surfaces can end up inside too.

That matters if someone cooks it as though it’s an intact steak, searing the outside and leaving the centre rare. 

Coeliac disease and gluten sensitivity

This is where the research gets more complicated, so let’s put it plainly.

Microbial transglutaminase can bind to gluten proteins, changing their structure. Researchers are investigating whether those altered proteins could provoke immune reactions in people with coeliac disease, and whether the enzyme could affect the gut’s protective barrier.

You might see that described as increased intestinal permeability, or “leaky gut”: the gut lining allowing substances through more readily than it should.

We’d rather know exactly what’s in our dinner

After last week’s conversation about the unsafe levels of pesticide residues found on supermarket produce, most of us are already feeling quite distrustful of Australia’s conventional food system.

That’s why our relationships with our local regenerative farmers mean so much to us. We want to know who raised the animals, how they were cared for and what happened to the meat before it reached your kitchen.

Take Randal and Juanita at Echo Valley Farm. Their work centres on soil health, animal welfare and caring for the land. They’ve even invested in their own on-farm meat shed, bringing more of the process into their hands and helping reduce animal stress.

That’s a serious commitment, and it’s the kind of work we want our food dollars to support.

Good food deserves honest answers

Buying from local regenerative farmers connects us with people who care about their animals, their soil and the future of their farms.

Of course,  the word ‘regenerative’ describes a farming approach; it doesn’t automatically tell you everything about processing. That’s why we value the whole relationship, including being able to ask questions and understand the answers.

You deserve to know what you’re buying, how it was produced and who you’re supporting.

And when you’ve paid for a beautiful, fresh cut of meat, that’s exactly what you should get. 

Explore our organic and regenerative meat range and get what you pay for without the guesswork.

References & Further Reading

• Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ): Transglutaminase assessment and labelling requirements, including requirements for raw meat formed or joined to resemble a whole cut.
• FSANZ: Allergen labelling for food businesses, including allergens present through processing aids.
• Lerner et al. (2020), International Journal of Molecular Sciences: Processed Food Additive Microbial Transglutaminase and Its Cross-Linked Gliadin Complexes Are Potential Public Health Concerns in Celiac Disease. This review discusses proposed mechanisms and potential concerns; it does not establish that eating treated meat causes coeliac disease.
• McGill University, Office for Science and Society: What is “meat glue”?, explaining transglutaminase and its use in food production.
• Stockman Steaks (15 March 2024): What is meat glue? The hidden ingredient you need to know about.