The Beyond Meat Revolution
Back in 2018, A&W, a fast-food chain in Canada, began selling beyond burgers on their menu. They became so popular that a few months after their release, there was a shortage in most stores. Not to mention that in 2019 a few provinces, were introduced beyond nuggets, or veggie “chicken” nuggets. These meat alternatives are now one of the top food trends of 2020.
As the general population has become more aware of the condition in factory farms, more people are protesting with their fork, aka buying less meat and choosing meat alternatives instead. Factory Farming is more than just about ethics, it contributes to a multitude of problems from antimicrobial resistance and soil degradation to algal blooms and methane productions. Veganism and Vegetarianism have also been on the rise, creating a snowball effect of awareness and increased demand for meat alternatives with high protein content (let’s be real, we all know one person who when vegan after watching cowspiracy). All in all, the trend to consume less meat has allowed for the beyond meat and meat-like substitutes to gain popularity.
Let’s take a deep dive into the world of plant-based meats
With a world population expected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050, one of the main problems the world is going to have to face it feeding the entire population. The world today currently produces enough food for 10 billion people — but we still manage to have hunger in many communities. It is more of a problem of distribution. In order to feed an extra third of people, we are going to have to increase yields and reduce food waste at the same time, and one of the main problems is having enough land to farm all of these animals. Especially when more people are able to afford meat products, more resources are going to have to be used in order to produce all the meat and meat products. This is when plant-based alternatives come into play: a way to offer people who are used to consuming meat, but have an alternative that is similar enough they will consume it for better karma.
The claims made by large companies such as the beyond meat burger and impossible burger are based on third party companies. The University of Michigan analyzed the impact of the beyond burger and concluded that it has a drastically less impact than 1/4 pound beef burger, and that is including all the raw ingredients, processing and packaging, cold storage, distribution and disposal of the packaging materials. The energy use of a beyond burger (BB) was about half that of the beef patty (BP) mainly due to the type of packaging involved. The Greenhouse gas emissions for the beef patty were 90% higher than the BB despite having ingredients such as coconut oil from Malaysian (Beyond Burgers are definitely not for those with a 100 miles diet!). The water use was the most drastic at 0.5% of that of a beef patty and this is mainly because of the water necessary to grow an entire animal from birth to slaughter. Even grass-fed and dairy beef still consume more water and produce more greenhouse gas emissions than plain vegetables. That being said, processing of the raw ingredients is where the beyond burger uses the most water and it also uses a fair bit of its energy in the production of the ingredients, packaging, and processing, it is still not as much as that of a normal burger. Still, switching to consuming less meat and being conscious of where your food comes from is where you can make the largest difference. (Take a look at this article).
What is the market like at the moment?
Two of the main meat alternative foods are the Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat. These companies aim to create plant-based products to taste like meat so that consumers that enjoy meat can have an alternative, mainly aimed at meat consumers instead of vegetarians (but vegetarians and vegans can still enjoy alike). Companies say that their alternative meats produce 90% greenhouse gas emissions. Lab-grown meats are also another way that you can reduce your footprint while still consuming real meat, although there is controversy over it.
In terms of food security and cost-saving, it is more economical to make your own burgers than to buy a beyond burger. Vegetables and grains are a cheaper way to consume plant-based proteins. There are lots of homemade veggie patty recipes out on the internet next time you want to try one! In order for these patties to reduce costs, they would need to increase the infrastructure of their production. This could possibly pose a problem though because of all the processing that takes place to make the beyond burger. Thanks to food processing, we are able to even make a beef-like burger. It really is a food science feat. Food processing can be great as it can recover wastes from a product and then create a new product with a few modifications. The controversy in food processing lies in the fact that in order to make a product shelf-stable, sometimes you have to add a lot of sugar and saturated fats (which are more stable than unsaturated fats).
People hold the beyond burger up to some magic ideal, but really it is just a food science feat.
Many Canadians rely on cattle and dairy to make a living, whereas some other members of the Canadian Agriculture sector — mainly the pulse ingredients in Manitoba (peas, chickpeas, mung beans, lentils, etc) have seen an increase in demand- more plant-based protein-rich foods equals more suppliers and thus their demand. Especially after Health Canada’s updated food guide, which reflected more plant-based proteins and even suggested to consume less meat. There was a lot of controversy over the food guide as it didn’t put milk as the main drink alongside water(a great source of calcium to prevent osteoporosis and could reduce sales for the dairy industry- which lobbied for milk and alternatives in the last food guide) and shifted to more plant-based protein sources (which does not help meat producers). Potentially, this shift could open other start-ups that include other food products such as pasta to have more plant-based proteins.
The pivotal moment in terms of marketing for these companies was when they started marketing their product to omnivores. Considering that 7% of Canadians identify as Vegetarian and 2.3% as vegans, this opened up a market. Furthermore, the new generations are fueling the market and asking to know where their food has come from.
The Science Behind the Beyond Burger …
The beyond burger is also a feat of R&D by food scientists- in order to get enough protein, the Maillard reaction browning and umami meat flavor, using plants can be a real feat. Let’s take a look at the Beyond Meat Ingredients: “Water, Pea Protein Isolate*, Expeller-Pressed Canola Oil, Refined Coconut Oil, Rice Protein, Natural Flavors, Cocoa Butter, Mung Bean Protein, Methylcellulose, Potato Starch, Apple Extract, Salt, Potassium Chloride, Vinegar, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Sunflower Lecithin, Pomegranate Fruit Powder, Beet Juice Extract (for color)”
One of the main components of any of these burgers is the protein- real meat burgers are high in muscle proteins so to convert it to plant proteins, protein isolates are used. Isolate is 95% protein normally and their production starts with the production of flour. For the production of high-quality protein isolates the process is as follows: The soluble proteins are then extracted with water through a pH adjustment with NaOH and insoluble materials are decanted. Soluble fibers and residual starch is removed through clarification. Oligosaccharides are removed through plate- frame ultrafiltration at 50kD Molecular weight cut-off then dried with a rotary wheel-spray drier. (Frederickson et al, 2001)
Pea protein is desired because it has a higher iron content, which can be hard to mimic due to non-heme iron in plants and is hypoallergenic, contains all essential amino acids and is not gritty or chalky due to low solubility. Other proteins that are used are Mung bean and rice isolate. Fat is added to give the fake marbling and the oleogustus/rich flavor. Coconut oil is used for its high saturated fat content. The proteins and the fat are bound with methylcellulose (thickener and emulsifier made of methylated cellulose), potato starch (humectant and thickener that tolerates higher temperatures) and sunflower lecithin (emulsifier). Small amounts of acid can increase the saltiness of the burger and reduce the amount of salt to be added but also enhance flavors. Potassium chloride is a salt replacer that gives a salty flavor without the same effects on the body as sodium chloride. The final component is the color of the burger to make it look like meat. To keep things natural, pomegranate fruit powder is used as well as beet juice extract due to the high betalains that give a deep red color. During cooking, the betalain is degraded and the apple extract contains polyphenols that allow for the Maillard reaction to take place with the proteins and brown the burger- giving it that crispy grilled exterior.
The Nutrition Behind the Beyond Burger
The beyond burger advertises its high protein content as well as being:
- lower in calories
- lower in cholesterol
- lower in fat
Here are two important questions with their claims: (1) What type of fat is found in their burgers and(2) Does it contain a full amino acid profile?
(1) The Beyond Burger contains mainly coconut oil, which is high in saturated fats. These fats (as compared to unsaturated fats from oils) are actually more of a concern for your cholesterol levels as saturated fats increase the Low-Density Lipoproteins (LDL) that circulate your body which in turn increase the cholesterol. Fun fact: Cholesterol is only found in animal products. You only really need to be concerned with cholesterol if you have a family history of high cholesterol, which might put you more at risk for cardiovascular diseases. Otherwise, cholesterol is not a concern with our diet as our body can produce it endogenously. The only way to decrease your cholesterol is through fiber, more specifically beta-glucagon in oats. Compared to a beef burger though, they have the same amount of saturated fat at 5g per patty beyond-meat*.
(* The table below says that there is 9g per 4 oz patty but the USDA Self Nutrition Data Sheet writes that it contains 5g per patty. Keep in mind that this study is funded by the beyond burger company and thus can contain bias.)
(2) The amino acid profile of the impossible and beyond burger are both great. The impossible burger contains soy, which is a complete protein, with higher histidine and lower levels of tryptophan. For the beyond burger, there are extra benefits to peas: limited antinutritional factors(ex. phytates) make the complete amino acids of pea proteins in the beyond burger are more easily digested (source).
Summary
Plant-based can be engineered to contain more proteins, vitamins, essential amino acids — in the end, whole food still might be a better and cheaper option. These Plant-based “meats” are a feat made possible thanks to food science and have made an impact on the vegan/ vegetarian community as well as improving the awareness of the environmental impact that our food industry contributes as a whole.
What part of the food industry should we tackle next?
