These substances that plant-based meat hides from us

Beyond appearances, what does plant-based meat really contain? Many ingredients, apparently healthy, but extremely processed.

Replacing meat with new plant-based meats is all the rage. But beyond appearances, what do these plant-based steaks really contain?

What ingredients are in plant-based meat?

Eat less meat, or even none at all, to reduce its impact on naturethis is the idea behind the plant-based steaks that are currently emerging. Steaks that, in order to convince inveterate meat lovers, take on the appearance of meat to the point of being mistaken. Whether it’s Beyond Meat or Impossible Foods, their ” false » meat is as close as possible to real meat. But to imitate the texture, appearance, taste and even the rareness of meat, how do you do it? And is it all good from a nutritional point of view?

First question: ingredients. What is the real composition of plant-based steaks? There are around twenty basic ingredients in total. which, when mixed, can imitate meat: soy, wheat, peas, but not only. Methylcellulose, derived from wood cellulose, can be used to bind the elements of the steak together. Finally, to imitate the fatty side of meat, there is also coconut oil.

Everything you need to know about seitan, plant-based meat

A vegetable meat that bleeds

The effect is astonishing: the method is offered in particular at Burger King, the famous fast food chain. A simple comparison between its classic Whooper hamburger and the meatless version is telling: while the classic offers 660 calories, the vegetable has 630. But in terms of cholesterol, the classic Whopper contains nine times more.for an almost equivalent protein level.

But meat also bleeds. To recreate fake bloodthe method is more obvious: beets are more than widely used in processed recipes to obtain the red color. This is what Beyond Meat uses to dye its fake meat. But Impossible Foods, the other big designer of plant-based meat, which has also just tackled sausages, has opted for another lesser-known ingredient:hemewhich also has the advantage of recalling the taste, because it contains an iron atom. A genetically modified ingredient developed in the form of yeast by the brand’s culinary engineers.

Read also – Use of meat terms banned from May 1, 2024

Extremely processed foods

There remains another question, beyond meat itself: the increasingly well-known danger of eating hyper-processed foods. Indeed, this is the argument of health as much as of environmental protection, and the animal welfarewhich is put forward to offer such plant-based meat. But to arrive at such a plant-based meat recipe, the level of processing is very high.

When ground meat, a fresh product, has not undergone any other processing than being ground, Plant-based meat is extremely processedeven going so far as to contain a GMO component. Certainly, the low environmental impact is a reality: less greenhouse gas emissions, less energy and much less water consumed to produce it… But Another solution exists: opt for responsible meat consumption. Eat less, better, and locally.

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