The plant-based meat alternative market is skyrocketing. While meat substitutes (which used to be called “analogs” or “mock” meats) aren’t exactly new, it’s only recently that they’ve started making a splash. The famous Impossible Burger made its way into the Burger King menu, as did the Beyond Burger at Carl’s Jr. Both additions caused a lot of heated debates between vegans and, shall we say, non-vegans. [1] [2] Yet another wave of controversy is coming with KFC announcing the addition of “vegan” fried chicken to their menu. [3] With so many meat substitutes making their way into stores and food chains, should we all be going plant-based and get with the hype? Not so fast! Whether you’re a vegan or omnivore, there’s something to be said about these new meat substitutes. I’m not here to debate which diet is optimal. My goal here is to get you to stop and remember the importance of real, whole-foods. Because the sad news is, these substitutes aren’t even close to the real thing.

Pulling Back the Curtain

The marketers for these substitutes sure know how to put on a good act. “You’ll save the planet!” “It’s good for your body! “Better than meat- meat is murder!” Well, first of all, you’re eating takeout food. It doesn’t matter if it’s vegan or not; it’s still not good for you. Just because a burger is vegan doesn’t mean you’re getting any nutrition outside of processed oils, empty carbs, and an overload of salt and sugar. People assume these foods are healthy just because the makers slapped a diet label on them. But if you bother to actually look at the ingredients list, you’ll see that they’re not as natural (or as healthy) as you’ve been led to believe.

Look no further than the ingredient list for the Beyond Burger, and you’ll see it’s beyond real:

 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) [4]

What can we say about these ingredients? While it does contain some recognizable foods (vinegar, lemon juice, cocoa butter), the rest of it is extracts, protein concentrates, refined (or processed) oil, and preservatives. In no way would I call this a natural burger. You need technology to make it. A homemade one would use real rice, peas, oil, and seasonings for flavor. I should also mention that one serving of the Beyond Burger contains 6 grams of saturated fat. [4] While the dangers of saturated fat have since been debunked, I do want to point out the hypocrisy that’s going on here. [5] If saturated fat is so harmful, then why do these so-called “burgers” contain so much of it?

The Impossible Burger isn’t any better. In fact, I’d say it’s even worse:

Water, Soy Protein Concentrate, Coconut Oil, Sunflower Oils, Natural Flavors, 2% or less of: Potato Protein, Methylcellulose, Yeast Extract, Cultured Dextrose, Food Starch Modified, Soy Leghemoglobin, Salt, Soy Protein Isolate, Mixed Tocopherols (Vitamin E), Zinc Gluconate, Thiamine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B1), Sodium Ascorbate (Vitamin C), Niacin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Riboflavin (B2), Vitamin B12[6]

I can’t believe that anyone would call this real food! It’s almost impossible to find anything healthy about it! First, why add a bunch of vitamins to a burger of all things? It’s supposed to be a burger- not a multivitamin! Second, a full serving contains 8 grams of saturated fat. For comparison, a single large egg gives you 1.6 grams of saturated fat. Read that again. 1.6 grams of saturated fat. The same fat that vegans have made into the bad guy and use against non-vegans.

Third, and most importantly, is the lack of real foods. In fact, outside of the oils, nothing in here is authentic. It’s just a mishmash of synthetic vitamins, preservatives, artificial flavors, and protein concentrates. Also, newsflash- soy is a top GMO food (more than 90% of which is genetically modified in the US). [7] Unless you’re buying it organic or fermented (i.e., tempeh, miso, tamari), you’re eating a food that’s known to be contaminated with glyphosate, which is an herbicide. Non-GMO soy is also said to have fewer nutrients than organic. [8] Though the jury is still out regarding the safety of GMO foods, I’d rather play it safe and stick to organic as much as possible and avoid processed forms of any food, period. (Soy included.)

There are two more strikes against the Impossible Burger I need to mention. First is that when ordering it, you need to be very clear about how you want it made. Tell them no cheese and mayo. Otherwise, you’re in for an unpleasant surprise. And second- which trumps the first- is the fact that the burger is cooked on the same broiler that’s used for grilling chicken and beef. It’s coming into contact with animal foods, making it unsuitable for vegan diets. [9]

So, what more can be said about these foods? I’ll let John Mackey, the CEO of Whole Foods, share his thoughts, “We launched Beyond Meat. We were their launching pad. In fact, I think all of their new products have been introduced at Whole Foods. I don’t think eating highly processed foods is healthy. I think people thrive on eating whole foods. As for health, I will not endorse that, and that is about as big of criticism that I will do in public.” [10]

If even the CEO of Whole Foods thinks it’s not healthy, then why should you? As a treat, maybe. But if you think for one moment that these meat substitutes are in any way superior to the real thing, then be prepared for a rude awakening the more it comes out that these foods are what’s feeding into society’s health crisis. It’s easy to be won over by fads and clever marketing. But remember, nature doesn’t need a million-dollar industry to tell us what’s right for our health.

Let this be some food for thought the next time you consider trying one of these burgers. Not only are you fooling your body, you’re fooling nature. And that never ends well.

Sources:

[1] https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/01/business/impossible-whopper-national/index.html
[2] https://www.carlsjr.com/beyondburger
[3] https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/26/kfc-will-test-beyond-meat-plant-based-chicken.html
[4] https://www.beyondmeat.com/products/the-beyond-burger/
[5] https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/saturated-fat-good-or-bad
[6] https://faq.impossiblefoods.com/hc/en-us/articles/360018937494-What-are-the-ingredients-
[7] https://www.fda.gov/food/food-new-plant-varieties/consumer-info-about-food-genetically-engineered-plants
[8] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24491722
[9] https://www.today.com/food/new-burger-king-impossible-whopper-isn-t-vegetarian-t160203
[10] https://www.drovers.com/article/whole-foods-ceo-fake-meats-not-healthy