As published recently in the Official Journal of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) porcine and bovine thrombin have been declared "fit for human consumption".
Thrombin is largely used in the Life sciences sector, e.g. in the manufacturing of cell culture media or in the processing of human plasma.
With this new approval the demand for Thrombin in the EU will significantly increase. Thrombin has the ability to hold meat pieces together thus forming a bigger part imitating a whole cut. In 2010 the EU Pariament had declared the use of Thrombin for food purposes for "misleading", exactly because of its specific function.
With this new approval the use of Thrombin may shift to other areas and larger quantities. The shift may affect current Thrombin availability and prices on the Life Sciences sector.
About Thrombin (extract from the EFSA Scientific Opinion):
"Thrombin is a serine protease involved in the final step of blood coagulation. It is isolated from blood plasma from cattle (bovines) and pigs. Thrombin consists of two polypeptide chains with an apparent molecular mass of about 36.5 kDa and has an isoelectric point of 7.5. The proteins all originate from the original blood plasma. The enzyme is not modified by technological procedures or other means, and is not subject to protein engineering."
Source: EFSA CEF Panel (EFSA Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes, Flavourings and Processing Aids), 2015. Scientific Opinion on thrombin from cattle (bovines) and pig’s blood. EFSA Journal 2015;13(9):4018, 11 pp. doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2015.4018
To access the whole text of the document click here.
