We’ll show you a “long ingredient list”
You may have heard criticism of some of the newer plant-based meat products for having a “long ingredient list”, the implication being that these products are somehow unhealthy because they are over-processed and not “natural” like the meat, dairy and eggs they seek to replace.
No doubt that less processing is generally good, but more or less ingredients does not mean something is more or less healthy. Shortbread, for example has just three ingredients - sugar, butter and flour. But you won’t see it listed as health food.
It pays to look closely at who is most concerned about the ingredient list of plant-based meat analogues, and you may not be surprised that it is the meat industry behind the scenes trying to raise an alarm.
Does the length of this ingredient list concern you?
Corn, vegetable oil (corn, canola, and/or sunflower oil), maltodextrin (made from corn), salt, tomato powder, lactose, whey, skim milk, onion powder, sugar, garlic powder, monosodium glutamate, maltodextrin (made from corn), cheddar cheese (milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes), dextrose, malic acid, corn syrup solids, buttermilk, natural and artificial flavors, sodium acetate, artificial color (red 40, blue 1, yellow 5), spice, citric acid, disodium inosinate, and disodium guanylate.
If so, don’t eat Doritos cool ranch chips. That list is longer (and contains much less healthy ingredients) than most plant-based meats.
But to compare burgers to burgers, what does meat itself contain? Well it is not listed on any label because the animal is the “factory” that processes the plants. And that is the key thing to note. We know an animal is an inefficient (and environmentally damaging) factory for producing meat, but what is the meat actually made of?
Well, here you go:
WATER (50.2%); AMINO ACIDS (24.0%) [GLUTAMIC ACID (15.1%), ASPARTIC ACID (9.1%), LYSINE (8.4%), LEUCINE (7.9%), GLYCINE (7.3%), ARGININE (6.7%), ALANINE (6.5%), PROLINE (5.4%), VALINE (5%), ISOLEUCINE (4.5%), SERINE (4.1%), PHENYLALANINE (4%), THREONINE (3.9%), HISTIDINE (3.3%), TYROSINE (3.1%), METHIONINE (2.6%), HYDROXYPROLINE (1.7%), CYSTINE (1%), TRYPTOPHAN (0.5%)]; FATTY ACIDS (15.9%) [OMEGA-7 TRANS FAT VACCENIC ACID (45.1%), PALMITIC ACID (25.2%), STEARIC ACID (14%), OMEGA-7 PALMITOLEIC ACID (4.3%), MYRISTIC ACID (3.4%), OMEGA-6 LINOEIC ACID (2.7%), MARGARIC ACID (1.3%), MYRISTOLEIC ACID (0.9%), OMEGA-9 MARGAROLEIC ACID (0.9%), PENTADECANOIC ACID (0.6%), OMEGA-3 ALPHA-LINOLENIC ACID (0.7%), OMEGA-7 PAULLINIC ACID (NON-CALORIC AND NOT DIGESTIBLE, 0.4%), OMEGA-6 ARACHIDONIC ACID (0.3%), LAURIC ACID (0.1%), ARACHIDIC ACID (0.1%), OMEGA-6 GAMMA-LINOLENIC ACID (0.1%)]; ANTIOXIDANT (E306), PHYLLOQUINONE, EMULSIFIER (E1001), ACIDITY REGULATOR (E375); COLORS (E101 YELLOW); PYRIDOXINE, FOLATE, PANTOTHENIC ACID, CHOLESTEROL; UNIQUE BEEF FLAVOR (12-METHYLTRIDECANAL); BEEF FLAVORS (PYRROLIDONE, HYPOXANTHINE, ANSERINE, CARNOSINE, INOSINE, GUANOSINE, RIBOSE); OTHER FLAVORS (OCT-1-EN-3-OL (MUSHROOM FLAVOR COMPOUND PRODUCED DURING THE AGEING PROCESS OF BEEF), OCTANAL, NONANAL, (E,E)-2,4-DECADIENAL, METHANETHIOL, 2-FURFURYLTHIOL, 3-MERCAPTO-2-PENTANONE, 4-HYDROXY-2,5-DIMETHYL-3-(2H)-FURANONE, 3-MERCAPTO-2-METHYLPENTAN-1-OL, PENTANAL, HEXANAL, HEPTANAL, METHIONAL, NONA-2(E)-ENAL, DECA-2(E),4(E)-DIENAL, BUTANOIC ACID, HEXANOIC ACID, DELTA-NONALACTONE, DECAN-2-ONE, 3-HYDROXY-2-BUTANONE, 2,3-OCTANEDIONE, 2-PENTYL FURAN, 2-METHYL-3-[METHYLTHIO]FURAN, 4-HYDROXY-5-METHYL-3(2H)-FURANONE (HMF), METHYLPYRAZINE, 2,5-DIMETHYLPYRAZINE, LACTIC ACID, FLAVOR ENHANCERS (E338, E630), BIS(2-METHYL-3-FURYL) DISULFIDE, 2-METHYL-3-FURANTHIOL (CHICKEN FLAVOR)), ANABOLIC STEROID (TRENBOLONE ACETATE); OTHER GROWTH HORMONES (PROGESTERONE, TESTOSTERONE, OESTROGEN, ZERANOL); ANTIBIOTIC (OXYTETRACYCLINE).
And here is the Impossible Burger:
Water, soy protein concentrate, coconut oil, sunflower oil, natural flavors, 2% or less of: potato protein, methylcellulose, yeast extract, cultured dextrose, food starch modified, soy leghemoglobin, salt, mixed tocopherols (antioxidant), soy protein isolate, vitamins and minerals (zinc gluconate, thiamine hydrochloride (vitamin b1), niacin, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin b6), riboflavin (vitamin b2), vitamin b12).
You be the judge of which is healthier.