There was a time when plant-based meat substitutes were the exclusive domain of vegetarians and vegans. Now the food science technology behind these plant-based foods has come of age with products designed to closely look, feel, taste and even bleed like the real thing. The rise of meatless meats is all about meeting the demands of traditional meat-eaters who want to cut down on meat and are looking for plant-based protein alternatives. But are these foods really a healthier alternative to their animal counterparts? That’s what I’ll explore in today’s podcast. 

The world has gone plant-based crazy. And there is no better example of this than in the explosion of plant-based meats. Whether for health, ethical or environmental reasons, many people choose to cut down on meat or cut it out of their diets altogether. A peek at Google Trends shows searches for plant-based meats exploded in 2019 and the trend shows no signs of slowing down. This aligns closely with the growing interest in vegetarian diets and people seeking meat-free alternatives in their diet.

And food manufacturers are never one to miss out on a marketing and product development opportunity hence the growing choice in the plant-based meat category. Not only do these foods now look like meat, but they're often sold alongside meat in the supermarket. Some even 'bleed' like meat when you cook them.

But we’re arrived here by a long road. Tofu is an example of a food treated as an alternative to meat for centuries. Yes, it doesn’t look or taste anything like meat, but it makes a good substitute for the excellent type of protein in meat. And then in more recent decades, we’ve had a congo line of processed mixtures of soy and other legumes, grains, and a variety of plants made into burgers, nuggets, sausages, and other meat-shaped products. These products were targeted towards a vegan or vegetarian demographic and despite their appearance and names, they weren’t necessarily intended to completely recreate the taste of their meat-based counterparts.

While a ‘meaty’ taste might not be everyone’s cup of tea especially long-term vegetarians, plant-based meats seem like an ideal ‘transition waystation’ for someone who is an avowed meat-lover but wants to go full vegetarian or even a midway point of a flexitarian. Plant-based meat substitutes can help fill the steak-sized gap on your plate and curb the need or want for meat. They are also a way to enjoy the taste of meat without killing an animal directly in the process, or simply for those looking to include more plant-based foods in their diet.

With the rapid rise in popularity of plant-based meats, you can find tasty meat replacements on many fast food restaurant menus or the supermarket shelf. Two of the global big players here are Impossible Foods and Beyond Burgers. But there are many other brands competing for your dollar.

Impossible Foods created a plant-based beef made from soy protein that has the taste and texture of beef. The ‘secret sauce’ in their burger so to speak was using a plant-based haem which gives the burger its meaty flavour. Haem is after all part of haemoglobin which gives the red colour to blood The iron-containing haem is taken from the roots of soy plants and fermented by genetically engineered yeast to help create the mouthfeel and taste of traditional beef.

Beyond Burgers also have a plant-based meat that looks and tastes like a beef burger and somewhat perturbing, even ‘bleeds’ like one. The blood here is nothing but beetroot juice. The protein in the burger comes from peas, rice and mung bean, while the fat comes from canola oil, coconut oil, and cocoa butter.

Both the Impossible Burger and Beyond Burger have a rather long list of ingredients as well as vitamins and minerals that are added to have a similar nutrient composition to traditional beef. And that texture they have that is close to a real meat patty? It is from a food science technology called extrusion which organises how the plant protein molecules are arranged by using heat and pressure.

The mimicking of animal foods using isolated plant proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals likely underestimates the true nutritional complexity of whole foods in their natural state, which contain hundreds to thousands of nutrients that impact human health.

Looking at many of the other plant-based meat brands, you’ll find the use of soy protein as a common ingredient, but wheat, pea and rice protein are also used. Other common ingredients that make up plant-based meat include salt, vegetable oils, starch, thickeners, yeast, mushroom and other vegetable extracts, and natural colouring such as the deep mauve of beetroot to give the meat that rich hemoglobulin blood-red colour. You’ll also find many products carrying a host of health halo buzz words such as gluten-free, vegan-friendly, no GMOs and preservative-free.

Eating plant-based for the environment is a common reason people may want to cut down on their meat-eating habits. There may be some merit to these plant-based meats in having a lower environmental footprint compared to meat. For example, Beyond Meat commissioned a Life Cycle Assessment and found that their Beyond Burger generates 90% less greenhouse gas emissions, requires 46% less energy, 99% less water, and 93% less land use than a burger made from beef. And I’ll link to this report in the show notes. But, we’re still waiting on independently funded research to validate these types of claims. https://css.umich.edu/publications/research-publications/beyond-meats-beyond-burger-life-cycle-assessment-detailed

The consumer organisation CHOICE did a recent consumer taste test of six plant-based burger patties and three plant-based minces sold in supermarkets in Australia from brands including Alternative Meat Co, Beyond Meat, Funky Fields, Unreal Co and Veef and I’ll link to the report in the show notes so can you read how consumers rated the taste and texture of the foods. Spoiler alert: Beyond Meat got the highest rating. And it really is about taste if you’re choosing these foods as they are meant to be a taste and texture substitute for meat for those that want desire that. www.choice.com.au/food-and-drink/meat-fish-and-eggs/meat-substitutes/buying-guides/plant-based-meat

But are plant-based meats as healthy as the marketing spin would have you believe? You probably have a clue already by the long-list of ingredients and industrial processes that are needed to make these foods. They are rightly called highly processed foods and belong in the category of ultra-processed foods. Check out my previous podcast episode 32 on the health concerns now being raised about these ultra-processed foods as a whole. Compare that to a steak that is just a single food. Even meat-based burgers will have a much shorter ingredient list than a plant-based burger.

So rather than incorporating super-healthy plant foods like legumes in your diet, these plant-based meats are generally relying on purified plant protein. That’s a lot of nutrients that are literally being thrown away in the processing to get to the protein source. Food processing may not only lead to the loss of some nutrients and phytochemicals naturally present in minimally processed plant foods, it can also create highly-palatable products that are easy to over-consume.

If you’re eating out and spot a plant-based Impossible Burger or Beyond Burger on a menu, you’re unlikely to be just eating the burger patty. It’s going to sit between a bun made of refined grains, covered in sauces and other toppings. And then, of course, there’s fries and soft drink. But you’re eating healthy right because it’s plant-based?

Plant-based meats have very little in common with the plants they're derived from. Plant-based is a meaningless term - sugar is 100% plant-based. Healthy? No. Eating mostly whole foods or foods that are minimally processed is a better guide to health.

There is no magical meat tree in nature. And the closest we’re getting to it is lab-grown meat which is made in cell cultures from animal muscle cells. The cost and scale for these foods have a long way to go before you can buy true lab-grown meat from your supermarket.

Plant-based meats may be a passable taste and texture substitute for meat, but they’re still highly processed. It is too early yet to say that they’re better or worse for your health than eating meat, but there is little I can see in them that would make them stand-out health choices on their own. As a direct substitute for meat, they may be okay on occasions, but they shouldn’t be a feature of your diet. The health benefits of a predominantly plant-based diet are not gained from throwing out the meat but replacing it with plant-foods that are still close to their natural state.

So that’s it for today’s show. You can find the show notes either in the app you’re listening to this podcast on if it supports it, or else head over to my webpage www.thinkingnutrition.com.au and click on the podcast section to find this episode to read the show notes.

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I’m Tim Crowe and you’ve been listening to Thinking Nutrition.