Genesis 9:4

"But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it."  Genesis 9:4

There is a stipulation to God's permission to eat meat - the meat must not have the blood in it.  The Hebrew can also be translated to read, "But you must not eat meat that has its life, that is the blood, still in it."  The wording also seems to explain why we shouldn't eat the blood, the blood has the life in it and life is sacred.