Transglutaminase (Meat Glue) — Hidden Processing Agent — Is It Vegan?

Vegan status: Vegan

Also known as: TG enzyme, Activa, Meat glue, mTG

Source

Produced by microbial fermentation from Streptoverticillium mobaraense bacteria. The commercial product is entirely microbial and vegan. An animal-derived form (guinea pig liver transglutaminase) exists for research but is not used commercially in food.

Used in

Meat processing (bonding meat scraps into formed cuts, restructured meat products), yoghurt and cheese making (improving texture), imitation crab/seafood, some gluten-free applications, modernist cuisine ('protein glue').

Appears on label: No. The EU requires labelling 'formed meat' products made with transglutaminase — e.g. 'formed from pieces of beef'. In the USA there is no mandatory labelling requirement for TG-formed meat. In most applications it will not appear on the label.

How to avoid

Concern is primarily around restructured meat products marketed as 'whole cuts'. The enzyme itself is vegan. Whole-muscle whole cuts are not affected.

Notes

Transglutaminase gained media attention as 'meat glue' — an enzyme that bonds proteins together, allowing meat scraps to be reformed into cuts that appear to be solid pieces. The practice is legal and the enzyme is safe (cooking destroys enzyme activity), but many consumers object to the misrepresentation of formed products as whole cuts. From a vegan perspective, the enzyme is vegan; the meat it processes is not.