PURPOSE: To improve the taste, flavor and quality of meat by using a mushroom extract in combination with a vegetable extract containing a nitrite or a nitrite.

CONSTITUTION: An additive for meat is produced by mixing (A) a mushroom extract prepared by extracting fruit body of edible mushroom such as Cortinellus shiitake, Flammulina velutipes or Pholiota nameko with water or hot water and (B) a vegetable extract containing a nitric acid salt and/or a nitrous acid salt and extracted from KOMATSUNA (a kind of Chinese cabbage), lettuce, Japanese radish, etc., at a ratio (A:B) of e.g., 3:(1-2). The additive is uniformly added to various kinds of meat or processed meat by mixing, kneading, sprinkling, immersion, etc.