What in the world do I mean? It depends on who you ask. Promoters of the slime claim it's just like beef. In fact, the FDA now calls it "ground beef." Meat industry producers have a fancier name, LFTB stands for "Lean Finely Textured Beef."

Have you heard of "beef trim?" It's "waste" meat and fat removed from higher quality beef. When collected, they warm the fat and trim, then put it into a centrifuge to "spin out" the fat. So far, so good. "Beef Products Inc " claims that this lean beef can be mixed with beef that has a higher fat content which is used in "low-fat ground beef and processed meat products.

One problem is that beef trim often contains pathogenic bacteria such as E. Coli 0157:H7. You can't sell that to people, so there has to be a way to kill the microbes before they eat the meat. Some companies use ammonia gas to kill the microbes. Often, a certain amount of ammonia byproduct, ammonium hydroxide, is left in the meat. A US Food and Drug committee claims ammonia and ammonium hydroxide are normal parts of metabolism, so there's no problem. Right?

Ammonia can combine with carbonate, chloride, hydroxide, sulfate and dibasic ammonium phosphate. Since these chemicals are seen as part of the normal body processes they must be OK in our food chain. (So they say.)

They don't necessarily tell you on the labels what is in the food. That habit has been going on for a long time.

The meat may also contain "calcium hypochlorite, chlorine gas, citric acid, lactic acid and trisodium phosphate." The FDA believes these substances are added during food processing, so, they therefore are not harmful. After all, most of the chemicals are removed in some way or another before it's put into the package of ground beef from your grocery store. foodsafetynews.com. (I've become very skeptical!)

By the way, trisodium phosphate is used as a cleaning agent, lubricant, food additive, stain remover and degreaser. Wikipedia. I wonder if the degreaser aspect removes the fat from the extra fat added after the original fat is removed. Crazy!

Another site says it can remove grease, mold, soot, and paint. www.bobvila.com This FDA approved product "is an irritant and can cause itching on exposed skin or airways."

Meat glue, on the other hand, is a food additive. It certainly sounds more edible than the first additive, but let's see what it is. Wikipedia calls it a substance used "to bond proteins together." It's made from such things as transglutaminase and fibrinogen/thrombin. www.healthline.com

When you see ase at the end of a word it means enzyme. It's claimed to be an enzyme "found naturally in humans, animals and plants." Healthine.com. In the body, it may help with "blood clotting and sperm production."

So, its "manufactured" from blood clotting factors in cows, pigs or bacteria." (Did you start to drool?) Because it bonds protein together food manufacturers find it very "useful."(And profitable, I'm sure.)

We went to a restaurant that featured tasty chicken curry. I noted that most of the chicken pieces were uniformly squarish on my plate and also on the others' plates. I've been around chickens most of my life and know that white meat doesn't look that thickly chunky. It made me wonder if the chicken fibers were held together with meat glue. (Just a passing thought.)

Wikipedia goes on to say it has "use among practitioners of the molecular gastronomy movement, as a means of melding new textures with existing tastes. WHOA! There are even recipes for this form of cooking.

https://www.masterclass.com  claims this is a "style of cooking that uses chemistry to create innovative dishes." "This culinary style challenges traditional food."

The "daily meal," claims that the glued together scraps of meat from different cuts creates a "solid mass in a process known as "reassembling" or "reforming."" Monika Sudakov

healthline.com  claims that meat glue can increase "risk of bacterial contamination." It also claims that it may "worsen celiac diseases or gluten sensitivity symptoms." More people are being diagnosed with celiac disease which may be traced back to the "increased use of transglutaminase in food."

So where do we find these delicacies? Restaurants, (even high-end ones) serve sausages, chicken nuggets, tofu, yogurt, cheese, fish, and "spaghetti made from shrimp meat." It's in baked goods to improve elasticity, volume and help it absorb water. It's in, at least, up to 35% of ALL packaged or processed meats. They also use meat glue to put sushi together.

The product comes as "a white powder" and there are two companies that make the products called Activa and Fibrimex (via Penn State) Activa comes from fermenting Streptoverticillum mobarense, a fermenting bacteria. Fibrimex is "from the blood plasma of beef or pork." thedailymeal.com

It reminds me of the TV ads when I was young. One particular one spoke of "Better Living Though Chemistry." In looking at a recipe, they now use chemicals to form "eye candy" food. By the way, most "meat purveyors and restaurant supplies" do not list meat glue in their list of ingredients, even though federal laws require proper labeling.

MeFirstLiving posts a YouTube called "MEAT GLUE (Transglutaminase)-The Truth About The Meats You Eat." There's a bag of TG that claims, "When the meats are bound with TG, they typically have the strength and appearance of whole uncut muscles." "This package contains enough enzyme to bond 120-150 pounds of protein. It also contained maltodextrin and sodium caseinate.

There is another YouTube message, "How to spot meat with meat glue. "Run Into The Sky." The person speaking showed cracks occurring in meats that used the glue to try to hold different types of meat together. Meat glued this way will stick together, but fat will not, so there are separations where fat meets the meat.

He showed a brand of ham with pieces glued together, then went on to say that all of our lunch meats are glued together. He said that turkey in nice packages are bits and pieces of chicken and turkey glued together.

Sous Vide MEAT GLUE Experiment showed how he glued meat together. He is "100% against this product," but people asked, so he was going to show how to do it. After layering the meat together with "MOO GLO". He said the package advised not to breathe the powder, so he partially pulled a shirt on to cover part of his face.

He had two separate meats, one natural and one glued, both done exactly the same way. He had a couple of men taste each without knowing what was in the meat. Both men loved the natural over the glued. He claimed that ground beef and patties have TG. (However, when cheaper ground beef has an unusual pink color, that may be meat slime.)

They can take a low grade meat and, with a syringe, pump it with flavor and water. This way they can sell mutton as lamb. Lamb has a unique odor. The last time I bought it some years ago, I could tell that it didn't have the normal look or smell of lamb, but had no idea what it was. (Possibly more beef than lamb.)

So, if all of this is making you think of becoming a vegetarian, just be sure to get enough vitamin B 12, as that's sadly deficient in most vegetarian diets. That's because most B 12 comes from meat. However, cooking meat may destroy it as it's sensitive to heat. Cooking meat rare, can lead to meat poisoning from bacteria, but it also allows the powder to go into your tummy and sit there for a while. (Hmmm.)

This all makes one think about praying over our food before eating it or it might be hazardous to our health! By the way, the European Union banned meat glue last year. Surely it's past time for us to do the same! We may have to consider letting our representatives know our thoughts on the matter.

It does take work to stay healthy in today's polluted world. One of the first steps is to become educated about what to do to protect our loved ones and ourselves.

Nancy L. Pidutti, PhD (NHH), Nurse, Hospital Chaplain