Why would you want to eat fake meat?! 

Over the recent years there has been the introduction of many new words, a number of which are play on words indicating something similar to the original product, meatless meat or plant-based milk being a couple. The ploy for using words that include a common word in it is so that when the consumer is searching for the food or product whether that is online or in the store, the plant-based products will be mentioned as well. Meatless meat products are meat alternatives not only for ethical reasons but people are now trying to be healthier and wanting to save the environment as much as they can (1).  

Although meatless meat has gone from a unique target audience to now a mainstream option, there are still a collection of people who are a little uneasy about the concept, so we are here to teach you a little.  

What is meatless meat? 

Hopefully, you all knew that meat is the flesh of an animal typically a mammal. Whereas meatless meat are foods that are plant-based products with base ingredients like beans, peas, soy or wheat gluten. These foods look and taste like burgers, mince and even meatballs but contain no meat at all.  

Over the decades, meatless meat has evolved to become a product that replicated a meat-like experience from a more traditional variation to now being a 'New Generation Plant-based' development.  

Did you know that Traditional Plant-Based Meat presented an alternative product without the assertion to look, taste or cook like traditional meat, therefore not offering a meat-like experience. Products like tofu or tempeh were among the products that were first considered for a plant-based alternative. Tofu was developed in China over 2,000 years ago from soybeans and captured the western world in the twentieth century as a healthier source of protein (2).  

While there is also the Indonesian tempeh containing more protein than tofu and seitan from East Asian cuisine made from wheat flour and with a similar texture to chicken (2). 

After changes within the industry, the Vegan and Vegetarian community came about the “New Generation Plant-based” which was designed with the purpose to replicate the meat-like experience in all aspects. These products have been shown to replicate the taste through coconut oil to replace animal fat, along with canola oil for a cooking experience like meat and added beetroot for the appearance. It looks like they have it all worked out now.   

The Worry Of Processing  

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried about the processing that goes on behind the scenes in producing a meatless-meat product and just as I am to the processing of meat-based products. But like the transition from the traditional products to the now “New Generation Plant-Based'' product, companies are formulating these spin-off products with as little processing as possible.  

We have to remember most food products are processed just like bread or milk are, and to learn a little more about the processing involved in plant-based products you can head over. 

That’s why we choose Future Farm 

Before choosing a plant-based company to work with, our team went ahead to compare a few different companies before finalising our decision. In review of the companies there were a few main points that were discussed including: 

• Claims  
• Main ingredients  
• Prices  

• Nutrition comments / comparison per serve  

To learn more on why we chose Future Farm to work alongside check out (blog name/ link).  

Isabelle Farrugia