If you haven’t tried plant-based meats, such as Impossible Foods or Beyond Meat’s burgers or chicken, wait: they’ve gone popular and can be found on menus across the country, from sit-down restaurants to fast-food joints.
They’re not as out there as they formerly were. According to the International Food Information Council, approximately 65 percent of Americans have consumed plant-based meat alternatives in the previous year, with about one in every five people consuming a plant-based meat alternative item each week and another one in every five people consuming one of these products daily.
The fact that these meat substitutes are available on fast-food menus across the country contributes to their appeal. Here are a few examples of available alternatives, although bear in mind that availability varies by location:
- Carl’s Jr.’s Beyond Famous Star burger
- Burger King’s Impossible Whopper.
- Del Taco’s Avocado Taco goes above and beyond.
- McDonald’s McPlant Burger
- KFC offers more than just fried chicken.
- Starbucks’ Impossible Breakfast Sandwich
- White Castle’s Impossible Slider.
Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods are the most well-known plant-based meat replacements, but The New York Times reports that Tyson Foods, Nestlé Sweet Earth, Smithfield, and Hormel Foods are all players in the meat-free industry.
And what is now accessible looks to be only the beginning. Researchers in the area predict that the industry will continue to develop and that goods offered in the future will combine cellular agriculture, offer a wider variety of meat, poultry, and fish, be less processed, and originate from even more sustainable enterprises.
What Is Plant-Based Meat Made of Anyway?
Expect to find no black beans, quinoa, or other components included in traditional vegetarian burgers or vegetable nuggets in these meat substitutes. These goods were created to mimic the texture, look, and flavor of meat and won the approval of many meat eaters.
“While most of these burgers are vegan, they are likely more appealing to omnivores searching for methods to reduce their intake of animal products while yet enjoying a comparable texture and taste,” says Kelli McGrane, RD, CEO of Kelli McGrane Nutrition in Denver.
According to ImpossibleFoods.com, BeyondMeat.com, and KFC, the following ingredients are used in three of the most popular products:
Impossible Burger Ingredients
- Water
- Soy protein concentrate
- Coconut oil
- Sunflower oil
- Natural flavors
- Potato protein
- Methylcellulose
- Yeast extract
- Cultured dextrose
- Food starch modified
- Soy leghemoglobin
- Salt
- Soy protein isolate
- Mixed tocopherols (antioxidant)
- Zinc gluconate
- Thiamine hydrochloride (vitamin B1)
- Niacin
- Pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6)
- Riboflavin (vitamin B2)
- Vitamin B12
Beyond Burger Ingredients
- Water
- Pea protein
- Expeller-pressed canola oil
- Refined coconut oil
- Rice protein
- Natural flavors
- Dried yeast
- Cocoa butter
- Methylcellulose
- Potato starch
- Apple Extract
- Salt
- Potassium chloride
- Vinegar
- Lemon juice concentrate
- Sunflower lecithin
- Pomegranate concentrate
- Beet juice color
- Zinc sulfate
- Niacinamide (vitamin B3)
- Pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6)
- Cyanocobalamin (vitamin B12)
- Calcium panthothenate
Beyond Fried Chicken Ingredients
- Water
- Wheat flour is enriched with niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, and folic acid.
- Isolate of soy protein
- Canola oil, expeller-pressed
- Enriched bleached wheat flour has the following ingredients: bleached wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, and folic acid.
- Wheat gluten
- Natural flavor
- Yeast extract
- Wheat flour, distilled vinegar, sea salt, leavening (sodium bicarbonate), inactive yeast, and spice extractives are used to make breadcrumbs.
- Chili pepper
- Citric acid
- Garlic powder
- Sodium bicarbonate, sodium aluminum phosphate, and monocalcium phosphate are used as leaveners.
- Modified wheat starch
- Onion powder
- Pea extract
- Rice flour
- Salt
- Spice
- Titanium dioxide (for color)
Beyond Burgers and Impossible Burgers are vegan, which means they are 100% plant-based and include no animal components. While the ingredients in Beyond Fried Chicken define it as vegan and vegetarian, KFC’s Beyond Fried Chicken is not vegan or vegetarian since the restaurant employs the same fryers as its conventional chicken, according to KFC.com.
Benefits of Plant-Based Burgers and Meatless Chicken
There are some apparent benefits to experimenting with other meats:
Contain Heart-Healthy Soy
A meta-analysis published in the Journal of the American Heart Association in June 2019 discovered that soy protein (the type utilized in many vegetarian burgers, including the Impossible burger) had a consistent cholesterol-lowering impact. Another study, published in Circulation in April 2019, discovered that substituting plant proteins for red meat can help lower the risk of heart disease.
May Encourage More Plant-Based Eating
Some experts feel that consuming these meat substitutes may inspire individuals to adopt a more plant-based diet, which has been proved to have several health benefits. According to the Cleveland Clinic, a nutritious plant-based diet may reduce your risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, digestive disorders, colon and breast cancers, and obesity. However, many of the advantages of a plant-based diet come from complete, unprocessed foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables and nuts, seeds, and legumes.
May Combat Antibiotic Resistance From Meat Eating
Another concern with meat consumption is the use of antibiotics to stimulate animal development. According to the Mayo Clinic, this antibiotic misuse can lead to the growth of antibiotic-resistant microorganisms. If you eat food tainted with antibiotic-resistant bacteria, you may get an infection that cannot be cured with antibiotics. This can be a concern since your body will be less able to fight off the virus, and the World Health Organization has declared it a “global health emergency.”
Fake Burgers Have More Fiber and Less Cholesterol Than Red-Meat Burgers
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, neither Beyond Patties nor Impossible Burgers contain any cholesterol, whereas 90 percent lean beef burgers have roughly 88 grams (g) (USDA). According to the Mayo Clinic, high cholesterol levels should be avoided since they raise your risk of heart disease.
According to the USDA, these meat replacements contain higher fiber, with 2 g of fiber in a Beyond Burger and 3 g in an Impossible Burger, compared to 0 g in beef burgers. According to the Cleveland Clinic, fiber offers several advantages, including weight loss and cholesterol reduction.
Risks of Processed Meat Alternatives
However, these meat substitutes may not be as simple as they look.
Here are some of the downsides:
High Saturated Fat Content
People like fake burgers because they are perceived as a heart-healthy alternative to red meat, which is heavy in saturated fat. According to the American Heart Association, overeating saturated fat can elevate cholesterol levels and the risk of heart disease and stroke (AHA). One research published in the February 2020 issue of JAMA Internal Medicine discovered that consuming more processed meat, unprocessed red meat, or poultry was associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
According to the USDA, a burger prepared with higher-fat cattle (80 percent lean beef) contains 6 g of saturated fat for a 3-ounce (oz) patty, while a burger made with 90 percent lean beef has about 4 g of saturated fat for a 3-oz patty. However, you might be shocked that manufactured vegetarian burgers aren’t any better in this regard: The Beyond Burger has 5 g of saturated fat while the Impossible Burger has 8 g.
“If reducing your saturated fat intake is a goal, then choosing one of these burgers over a 90 percent lean beef burger is not a beneficial choice,” says Allison J. Stowell, RD, of Guiding Stars, a company based in Bethel, Connecticut that provides a nutrition labeling system to help consumers make healthier food choices.
Stowell recommends a leaner turkey burger or a classic veggie burger because they are lower in saturated fat. According to the USDA, a standard 70 g veggie burger has 1 g of saturated fat.
However, Stowell points out that standard vegetarian burgers often contain fewer calories and fewer grams of protein, so they may not keep you satisfied for long. A vegetable burger, for example, contains 124 calories and 11 g of protein, but a turkey burger has 170 calories and 21 g of protein.
Highly Processed
Another issue, according to McGrane, is that these meat substitutes may be classified as processed foods. According to the AHA, experts advocate reducing processed foods since they often include several less-than-healthy substances such as preservatives, sugars, and oils. A diet high in processed foods usually involves a high intake of salt, sugar, and harmful fats.
High Sodium Content
Stowell adds that a significant concern with these burgers is their salt content, which, as the AHA points out, most Americans consume much too much of. These dishes include more salt than a regular beef or turkey burger, with the Beyond Burger having 390 milligrams (mg), the Impossible Burger having 370 mg (approximately 15 to 16 percent of your daily value), and the Beyond Chicken having 450 mg.
According to the USDA, a 4 oz patty of 93 percent lean ground turkey includes 78 mg of salt. A 4 oz. 90 percent lean beef burger has 77 mg of salt. Finally, a standard veggie burger has 398 mg of salt per patty (roughly 3 oz).
It’s not a big deal if you avoid processed foods otherwise, but ingesting too much salt over time can lead to high blood pressure, heart attack, and stroke, according to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
So, should you make these meatless burgers a regular part of your diet? “As the nutritional details of meat replacement burgers show, despite the ‘health halo,’ these choices may not be the greatest decision,” Stowell argues.
Is Fake Meat Better for the Environment?
Some individuals love these burgers because they are more environmentally friendly. “There is little question that limiting our consumption of red meat is a choice we should all explore in order to reduce our carbon footprint and embrace sustainability goals, because red meat production has major environmental implications,” adds Stowell.
However, even if the items are more environmentally friendly, the manufacturing process may have a detrimental impact on the environment. In terms of sustainability, a New York Times piece compares Beyond Meat to Tyson, the world’s second-largest poultry, beef, and hog processor. This is partly due to the meat replacement firms’ lack of statistics on greenhouse gas emissions. According to The New York Times, Beyond Meat is planning to reveal this information this year.
The Right Time to Choose Vegan Meat Alternatives
However, these meat-free choices might be helpful when you cannot prepare in your own home, such as when you are stuck in a drive-through.
According to McGrane, they may be your best choice if you’re vegan or vegetarian because fast-food places frequently lag in the meat-free section. If you don’t mind eating meat, Stowell recommends a garden salad with grilled chicken and a low-sodium, low-calorie dressing or a grilled chicken sandwich because grilled chicken is one of the leaner protein alternatives when it comes to consuming meat.
The Future of Meat-Free Alternatives to Beef and Chicken
It appears that the meat substitute choices available currently are only the beginning. “I believe the sector will continue to expand — it isn’t going away,” says Celia Homyak, Ph.D., co-director and industry fellow of the Alternative Meats Lab at the University of California, Berkeley, which assists researchers and entrepreneurs in determining what’s next in the plant-based meat area. She believes that more meat substitutes will be available on grocery store shelves. “There’s a lot of possibility for growth in that market since we’re just there with ground beef or ground sausage right now,” says Dr. Homyak. “There’s a lot of space for development in the area of replicating full muscular meat, such as chicken breast or fish filets.”
Homyak also believes that consuming whole fruits and vegetables will become more popular to reduce processing. For example, use jackfruit or hummus as primary ingredients rather than merely trying to emulate meat with processed components. “I believe that society and the younger generation are shifting toward less processing, more natural foods, and a focus on sustainability,” she adds.
To become even more sustainable, these businesses must compare themselves to one another and encourage one another to be better, according to Homyak. “I think a lot of the present claims are a direct comparison to the meat business,” Homyak adds. “If [a meat alternative firm] ever compares itself to the meat industry, it will win.” “I believe there has to be a movement — and there is beginning to be a shift — inside the alternative and plant-based food arena to say, ‘Hey, clearly we know we’re better than beef, but why don’t we start comparing ourselves to each other?’ and try to push the boundaries here.” These businesses can employ recycled plastic or paper packaging to be more environmentally friendly. Impossible Foods has made gains in this area, claiming that the tray and packaging for Impossible Burger patties are recyclable.
We also anticipate the emergence of cellular agriculture, which uses animal cells grown in a lab rather than animals. According to Tufts University, this is the focus of the study, which obtained a $10 million grant from the USDA in October 2021.
“The argument is that, nutritionally, [cellular agriculture products] should be at least as good as what you’d get from traditional livestock because you’re using the same biological material, but in principle a lot healthier because you’re not overprocessing or adding a lot of other stuff,” says David Kaplan Ph.D., a Distinguished Professor at Tufts and chair of the department of biomedical engineering, who is leading this initiative at Tufts.
Dr. Kaplan believes that “the supermarket will look like a cabinet full of plant-based, a cabinet full of cellular agriculture, and you’ll still have your conventional cattle” in three or 30 years. “And the customer can make their own decisions.”
The Bottom Line
Plant-based meat substitutes offer several advantages: they can help you reduce your meat consumption, which may lower your risk of health problems, and they can help you minimize your carbon footprint. However, because they are processed and still include saturated fat and salt, they are not healthy foods. Future generations of meat replacements are being researched to be more sustainable and less processed than the ones now accessible on grocery store shelves.
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