Moisture is retained in cooked or thawed food by adding to the food an aqueous suspension of animal muscle protein obtained from animal muscle tissue. The aqueous suspension is obtained by mixing comminuted animal muscle tissue with a food grade acid to form an aqueous acidic solution of animal muscle protein. The acidic solution is mixed with a food grade base to precipitate the protein in an aqueous composition. The precipitated protein then is comminuted to form an aqueous suspension of comminuted animal muscle protein.