Currently browsing posts about: Meat substitutes

I can hardly keep up with what’s happening with plant-based and cultured-meat products.  Here’s my latest collection from various newsletters and other sources.  Take a look at the ones that interest you.  This is a quick way to get a broad picture of where this industry is headed and how these products are viewed.

Bottom line: meat alternatives are big business.

• Your questions about fake meat, lab grown meat and clean meat answered.  Let’s start off this collection with an explanation of the issues from my former student Maggie Tauranac, now working at the Grace Foundation, and writing in Edible Manhattan. She says: Until we know more about the full impact of these products on humans and on the planet, the jury is still out on whether they will be celebrated, feared, avoided or ignored.
• Vandana Shiva’s take: Fake Food, Fake Meat: Big Food’s Desperate Attempt to Further the Industrialisation of Food:  The promotion of fake foods seems to have more to do with giving new life to failing GMO agriculture and the Junk Food Industry, and the threat from the rising consciousness that organic, local, fresh food is real food: that which regenerates the planet and our health.
• Lab-grown insect cells could be the planet-friendly “meat” of the future, according to Grist.
• Food Navigator reports on a survey by the International Food Information Council asking Americans whether almond milk contains cow’s milk.  16% are not sure, 9% say yes, and 75%, fortunately, say no.
• The New Food Economy reports that Tyson’s is getting into the plant-based meat product business.  Perdue Farms, Nestlé and Hormel Foods also plan to enter this market.  But note: Critics complain that the products are not really plant-based.
• $16B invested in plant-based and cell-cultured meat since 2009  The Good Food Institute noted in two reports that changing consumer attitudes and the boost in sales of meat alternatives are driving these funds.
• Impossible Burgers run short as manufacturer ‘spares no expense’ to double supply: Statements from the company confirm its production capacity and a steep incline in demand has caused the shortage, and sourcing ingredients is not the issue.
• From microalgae to 3D printed steak: ‘The future is meatless’  As the sustainability agenda rises in the food industry, innovators are increasingly looking at ways of swapping out meat for a plant-based counterpart. FoodNavigator explores three innovations in the sector: microalgae omega-3, scalable mycoprotein, and 3D printed steak… Read
• What does ‘plant-based eating’ really mean, and how can firms tap into the trend?  Next-generation meat, egg, and dairy alternatives have garnered a huge amount of press (and investment), but there are many other ways for brands to meet demand for plant-based foods, says a report from consultancy New Nutrition Business querying whether brands such as Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods are overhyped and overvalued… Read
• Analysts: Cell-cultured and plant-based meat could be 10% of the market by 2029:  While wide distribution of lab-grown meat is likely years away, Barclays says plant-based products have garnered favorable consumer response and both sectors could be worth $140 billion.
• Plant-based and cell-cultured ‘meat’ labeling under attack in 25 states: Bills to prevent plant-based and/or cell-cultured products from being labeled as ‘meat’ or ‘beef’ have been introduced in 25 US states, and have already passed in states including Mississippi, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Montana, South Carolina, North Dakota and South Dakota. But what, if anything, can opponents do to stop them?.. Read
• Water lentil milk… a new option in the plant-based dairy case?  A new option could soon be available in the burgeoning plant-based milk category utilizing the protein-packed ‘water lentil,’ a free-floating seed-producing micro aquatic plant (also known as duckweed and Lemna/Lemnaceae)… Read
• After exiting Beyond Meat, how will Tyson do with its own plant-based products?  In an earnings call this week, CEO Noel White said the company’s reach will allow it to move quickly into the marketplace this summer.
• Research article from Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems: Climate Impacts of Cultured Meat and Beef Cattle.   
• Beyond the burger: A look at the building blocks used to make better plant-based meat: As consumers hunger for options in the red-hot space, scientists are deepening their understanding of how to make the products even more like their animal-based alternatives.

I thought this was an April Fool joke, but apparently it’s for real.  According to The Guardian (and many other sources), Burger King will be serving this plant-based meat alternative.

Much has been said in favor of and opposed to the Impossible Burger.

I give Tamar Haspel credit for the most cogent comment:

I’ve been collecting items about plant-based “meat” and “dairy foods.”  These are a hot topic, with new announcements almost daily.

Here’s what FoodNavigator-USA.com has collected in a Special Edition

• Talking protein with Glanbia Nutritionals: It’s a time of trial and experimentation: Is the protein craze fizzling out? Not if you look at new product launch data, or the fact that producers of both plant and dairy proteins are continuing to add capacity, and consumers are continuing to experiment with new sources, from marine collagen to sacha inchi, points out Max Maxwell, market analyst at Glanbia Nutritionals… Read
• ADM: ‘We’re very confident that our pea protein will have some competitive advantages’: ADM – which is best known in the protein arena for its soy-based ingredients and edible beans – is moving into the fast-growing pea protein space early next year with an 80%+ concentrate, and is developing “legume ingredients with at least 80% protein as well.”.. Read
• Perfect Day partners with ADM to commercialize animal free dairy proteins: Perfect Day, a high-profile Silicon Valley start-up producing casein and whey via microbial fermentation (minus the cows) has teamed up with global ingredients giant ADM to develop and commercialize its animal-free dairy proteins… Read
• San Diego start-up develops algae production platform capable of producing proteins found in bovine and human breast milk: A San Diego-based firm building a production platform for food proteins from green algae says it can produce recombinant proteins identical to those found in bovine and human breast milk, which it claims could prove a game changer in the infant formula market… Read
• Geltor raises $18.2m, gears up for 2020 launch of animal-free collagen proteins for the food industry: Geltor – a San Leandro-based start-up producing collagen proteins via microbial fermentation for the cosmetics industry – is gearing up for the 2020 launch of commercial quantities for the food industry after completing an $18.2m Series A round led by Cultivian Sandbox Ventures and supported by GELITA, ADM Ventures, Cavallo Ventures and Box Group… Read
• Peas please! Where next for pea protein? Once a niche ingredient, pea protein is now the #2 player in the burgeoning plant-based protein market behind soy, with key players ratcheting up capacity to meet growing demand. FoodNavigator-USA (FNU) caught up with Tyler Lorenzen (TL), president at PURIS, the largest North American producer of pea protein, to talk peas….. Read
• New Chinese pea protein plant will boost availability of higher quality pea protein in 2019, says Farbest: Farbest Brands has been named the preferred North American distributor of pea protein by Chinese manufacturer Jianyuan Foods Group, which will start commissioning a new production facility in the coming weeks that will provide “a significant increase in pea protein supply for Farbest customers beginning in 2019.”.. Read

And here are a bunch I’ve picked up here and there:

• Dairy UK objects to a vegan shop’s use of the word “cheese” to describe its products.
• The National Milk Producers Federation has petitioned the FDA to label plant-based products as “imitation,’ “alternative,” or “substitute,” when referring to what their makers have been calling “milk.”  The petition is here.
• The food processor ABP UK is coming out with new products made with pea and soy proteins formulated to “appeal to meat reducers and non-meat eaters alike.”
• Tyson’s, as Big Meat as they get, has announced that it is investing in plant-based meat.
• Good Karma is launching plant-based sour cream, ranch dips, and French onion dips.
• Plant-based vs traditional meat: Euromonitor offers four-year outlook: Despite the rapid growth of the meat alternative sector, market research firm Euromonitor has revealed that there is still a way to go to compete with some of the major international meat markets… Read
• State ag officials warn cell-based meat companies against demonizing traditional options (behind a paywall)

I will be keeping an eye on this area, where a lot seems to be happening, and fast.

Plant-based meats are touted as the technological solution to the health and environmental problems caused by excessive meat-eating.   Venture capital is flooding to what seems like a hot new market.

One objection to these products is that they are heavily processed and contain long lists of processing ingredients (my emphasis on the color ingredients).

The Beyond Burger: pea protein isolate, expeller-pressed canola oil, refined coconut oil, water, yeast extract, maltodextrin, natural flavors, gum arabic, sunflower oil, salt, succinic acid, acetic acid, non-GMO modified food starch, cellulose from bamboo, methylcellulose, potato starch, beet juice extract (for color), ascorbic acid (to maintain color), annatto extract (for color), citrus fruit extract (to maintain quality), vegetable glycerin.

The Impossible Burger: water, textured wheat protein, coconut oil, potato protein, natural flavors, 2% or less of: leghemoglobin (heme protein), yeast extract, salt, soy protein isolate, konjac gum, xanthan gum, thiamin (vitamin B1), zinc, niacin, vitamin B6, riboflavin (vitamin B2), vitamin B12.

I was intrigued by this article from Food Navigator about the color problem.  Plant-based meats are naturally an unappealing grey and need color to make them appear palatable. What to do?

According to botanical extract supplier, Naturex, whose portfolio includes colouring foods, plant-based meat analogues are “a booming sector​” and, with colour one of the most important factors in determining a food’s appeal, manufacturers are interested in natural ways to colour meat alternatives.

Category manager for natural colours at Naturex Nathalie Pauleau said that carmine, derived from cochineal insects, is the most frequently used colour for real meat applications but cannot be used in plant based products because it is not vegetarian.

Vegetable-based alternatives include beetroot or red radish concentrates that deliver good colouring results, and in Europe, both can be classified as colouring foods, ​she said.

But there are big problems with color stability under conditions of heat and high or low pH.  If manufacturers want a browner color, carmelized sugar sometimes works.

As for the “bleeding” burger produced by Impossible Foods: this is

a plant-based burger made from the standard base ingredients of wheat, potato and soy protein. The addition of its IP-protected ingredient, leghemoglobin, however, means that the burger’s label lists added flavours but no colours.  Leghemoglobin is a heme molecule similar to myoglobin and haemoglobin that make blood and meat red but is found in the roots of nitrogen-fixing plants such as soy, meaning it is vegetarian-friendly. When added to the burger, it looks like blood.

And how do these taste?  Not bad, by most reports.

But one of my personal food rules is never to eat anything artificial.  These products are off my dietary radar.

Marta Zaraska.  Meathooked: The History and Science of Our 2.5-Million-Year Obsession with Meat.  Basic Books, 2016.

If this were just another diatribe against meat-eating, I would not have bothered to read it but this book is much more interesting than that.  The Polish-Canadian journalist Marta Zaraska describes herself as a “sloppy vegetarian,” someone who doesn’t eat much meat but

can’t seem to completely let go of meat either.  There is something in it—in its cultural, historic, and social appeal, or maybe in its chemical composition—that keeps luring me back.

And that’s what this book is about: the cultural, historic, and social (and maybe even the chemical) appeal of eating meat.  Zaraska identifies the reasons—the hooks—of this appeal, linked as they are to genetics, culture, history, and the politics of the meat industry and government.

Although Zaraska clearly thinks eating less meat would be good for health, animal welfare, and the environment, that’s not really the book’s goal.  Instead, it’s to understand why most people don’t want to be vegetarian, let alone vegan, and why even small steps in that direction are worth taking.

What’s impressive about this book is the friendliness, human understanding, and charm of its writing, and the global scope of the interviews on which it draws (full disclosure: it briefly quotes my work).

A couple of scientific points didn’t ring right (beans do have methionine, just not as much as is needed), and I’m not sure that mock meats, meat substitutes, and edible insects will satisfy the “hooks” she describes so well, but these are minor quibbles.

I’m traveling, which means it’s time to catch up on saved posts.  Here’s one from FoodNavigator.com that I’ve been wanting to share.  It’s a collection of articles on meat substitutes.

Meat substitutes?  I don’t know how you feel about this sort of thing, but any kind of substitute violates one of my food rules: “Never eat anything artificial.”

Never mind.  Meat substitutes are the ways food technologists respond to nutritionists’ advice to eat less meat.

Here is what FoodNavigator.com has to say about this approach:

• Where’s the beef? The cutting edge of meat substitute innovation: Vegetarian protein options have come a long way from the once-ubiquitous lentils and tofu as food scientists have stepped up to the challenge of creating innovative meat substitutes. 
• Have meat substitutes missed the boat? Many consumers around the globe are turning away from meat as health, price and ethical concerns grow. But the latest market research indicates that meat substitutes are failing to pick up the slack.
• Bring back the meat: How flavours can boost product quality: Meat flavours can be give an intense meaty note to products made with meat substitutes and instant foods, as well as provide a more authentic and intense taste in meat-containing products, says Symrise director.
• TNO to explore meat alternatives and oils from algae: TNO has teamed up with industrial algae producer Ingrepro Renewables for a two year research project investigating the extraction of proteins, healthy oils, and possible carbohydrates from algae.
• Seeing red: The health implications of meat consumption: Headlines continue to raise concerns over the health effects of excessive meat consumption, a situation that is boosting consumer interest in meat substitutes. But what does the science say about meat and health?