Can you tell whether this sizzling burger is beef?
How about these?
Or this “chicken”?
Or any of these sandwich meats?
“Oh, it’s actually really hard…”
“Oh, now I’m confused... I don’t know...”
“Maybe that’s the meat?“
“They are all the same!”
“But it’s f-cking hard. It’s f-cking hard, man.”
“Yep, we’re talking about fake meats.
Plant-based meat alternatives, to be exact."
The companies producing them say
they are going to replace meat entirely.
“But they’ve also been slammed for being just as junky, ultra-processed or
just a bad rip-off of ‘real’ meat.
So what’s the deal with all of these?
Are they actually better for my body - and better for the planet?”
“I am on my way to my favorite section of the supermarket.”
The vegan and vegetarian 'meat' aisle.
Burgers, nuggets, sausages, you name it – all meat-free.
“I basically stopped eating meat a few years ago and ever since then, I’ve been trying out
a lot of meat alternatives.”
And people around the world are doing the same.
"It does look a little like meat.”
“Smells really good.”
“Very dry." "I don’t like it.”
“Ok, it’s very yum, whatever it is,
but it’s not chicken.”
Now meat alternatives are not new, but this recent generation of extremely meat-like
substitutes arguably originated in the US, with pioneers like Beyond Meat.
But before all of these high-tech innovations, different cultures have had their own meat
alternatives for centuries –because it was cheaper or for religious reasons.
“A lot of which, I’m sad to say, has been bastardized in the West
into dry, brown blandness. Or into something like this.
Not necessarily the most appetizing food – and definitely a far cry from real meat.”
But they were the only meat substitutes available on the market for a long time.
Then came the “veggie” burgers – patties made out of vegetables that tasted like vegetables.
So they were not designed to mimic the taste of meat. The new generation of “fake meats” revolutionized
the market – by trying to appeal to meat-eaters.
“We're going after actually those who crave meat.
Those who can't get away from the taste of meat.”
This is Craig Davis, tasked with expanding
Impossible Foods into the European market.
“The mission of Impossible Foods is
actually to displace animal products from the human food chain.
We'd like to create new options.”
The market value of plant-based meat worldwide was estimated to be worth
around 11 billion dollars in 2019 – and it’s tipped to almost triple that
over the next five years, with the biggest growth expected in the Asia Pacific region.
With Western companies branching out globally, and local brands popping up worldwide.
So how do plants become this much like meat?
Well, it’s hard to get details from the manufacturers – a lot of the information is proprietary.
"Made out of soy, peas, soy and wheat."
But most products start with concentrated or isolated soy, pea or wheat protein.
The manufacturers then probably use extrusion – the ingredients are mixed,
kneaded, and rapidly heated under pressure. That’s also how corn becomes cornflakes.
The products on the market also have oils added in – for example, from sunflowers or coconuts.
As well as added minerals, spices, colorants and binders.
Impossible burger has one ingredient that the others don’t have – heme,
a plant-based chemical compound that makes the burger bleed.
On the other hand, some companies have set their sights on replacing chicken
instead of beef – for example “Like Meat”.
“What we want to do is we want to have ingredients which are kitchen recognizable ingredients,
and we want to have a process which is a natural process without any chemical part of it.“
Kees Krythoff leads LIVEKINDLY,
which includes the brand Like Meat.
“Plant-based chicken looks like, feels like and tastes like chicken.”
Let’s put that to the test.
“So as you can see, I bought a bunch of vegan meat alternatives – and I’m going to test whether they
are as good as the manufacturers say they are."
I invited three meat-eaters for a taste test.
"Let’s see whether they can taste the difference – because I don’t think so. Let’s get cooking.”
Test number one: The classic burger.
“Texture-wise it gives a little bit more bounce than meat usually would.”
“It's definitely not a real meat burger.”
“It tastes good but it tastes more like vegetables.”
“That is what I expect a burger to taste like.”
“Ui... I think that was the meat."
“The consistency is not right.”
“Oh no, now I don’t know, I really don't know now.”
“Maybe that’s the meat.”
“I think that’s the real meat.”
“Damn, but it’s harder than I thought, man.”
Number two: Grilled chicken.
“It’s not chicken.”
“It’s tasty but it isn’t meat.”
“It’s actually really hard...”
“Artificial smelling.”
“I think they nailed the texture a bit better.”
“So far I would say the second one is the chicken.”
“That’s chicken.”
“That’s chicken for sure.”
“Sorry guys, that’s the chicken. It's just a too familiar taste.
So third one is the chicken, the other two are vegan.”
“You’re right!”
Test number three: Sausage meat.
“I already know I’m not going to get this one.
No smell, weird.”
“I think this is the meat.”
“The other one felt more realistic, this one just feels like, has no integrity.”
“Either this isn’t the sausage or it’s a really bad sausage.”
“There is really no way to tell.”
“Textually very similar to the first one.”
“The differences are marginal.”
“I think the first two are vegan. I think this is real.”
“Wrong!”
“No way!”
“That’s vegan!”
“Wow, wow.”
“But it’s f-ing hard, it’s f-ing hard, man.”
“But taste isn’t the only reason these products are flying off the shelves. It’s because they
taste similar – while supposedly being so much better for the planet. So is that actually true?”
Impossible Foods claims its burger
has 89% less global warming potential,
uses 96 % less land and 87 % less water than
a conventional beef burger.
“Plant-based substitutes do have
substantially lower environmental footprints
than conventional farmed beef.”
This is Rachel Santo,
she studied the environmental and health effects of different plant-based meats. But, she says...
“Plant-based substitutes have a slightly
higher impact than the non-processed plant foods
that you're comparing to."
If you look at chicken, the results are less pronounced – but still quite clear.
Raychel Santo’s metastudy shows that on average, meat substitutes emit 43% less greenhouse gases,
use 77% less land and 76% less water compared to chicken.
But that’s not all the producers are claiming.
“What if burgers got healthier? And the food we love had no cholesterol?”
“There's no difference in protein.
There's not much difference in
other components, such as total fat.”
This is Joao Ferreira,
he is a researcher and doctor who conducted a study on the health effects of meat alternatives.
“But one important difference is that plant-based
meat has less cholesterol.
So it has a little bit more salt, more sodium,
but the studies that have been conducted this far show
that there is no increase in blood pressure
or whatsoever and these quantities of salt are small.”
A recent Stanford study made participants eat plant-based burgers for eight weeks
instead of meat burgers – which led to better cardiovascular health.
“It seems that they are healthier, however, we need more studies.”
The nutritional value of chicken substitutes also
can be similar or even better than the real thing.
But this can actually vary wildly depending on which product you look at.
Meaning you do need to read the fine print to make sure you’re substitute is healthier.
One chicken substitute had almost one and a half times the calories and nearly three times more fat
than the meat it is trying to replace.
But one thing is for sure: Meat can contain antibiotics – alternatives don’t.
“There’s been one more controversial point – and that is how processed these products are.
And whether that makes them unhealthy.”
Studies show that eating processed meat can be linked to cancer,
heart disease or diabetes. Futher research is needed,
but initial studies show this doesn’t seem to apply as directly to plant-based alternatives.
“So if you compare plant-based burgers to beef burgers directly, these are healthier.”
But that doesn’t make vegan burgers a health food. They’re still high in fat,
and the fact that you’d usually eat them with sugary sauces and fries on the side
doesn’t make them any healthier. And yes, eating whole grains and
unprocessed legumes is better for you and better for the planet, no question.
“But on the other hand, if you really want a burger, and you have the choice – why not take
the one that is better for the planet. And same goes for all of these other products.”
Although the taste might not completely fool us yet...
“Pretty close, pretty close.”
“It’s delicious!”
Any replaced meat is a win for the environment.
“What are your thoughts on plant-based meat alternatives? Have you tried any?
Let us know in the comments and don’t forget to subscribe!”